Tunable ferromagnetic ordering in phosphorus adsorbed ReS₂ nanosheets

Layered transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) are considered as promising materials for electronic, optoelectronic and spintronic devices due to their outstanding properties. Herein, based on rhenium disulfide (ReS₂) nanosheets, we realized the intrinsic room temperature ferromagnetism with the adsorption of P adatoms (P-ReS₂). Experiments indicate that the saturation magnetization (M_s) can be tuned by the P ratios, where the maximum M_s can reach up to 0.0174 emu g⁻¹. Besides, density functional theory (DFT) calculation results demonstrate that the strong hybridization between Re d and P p orbitals is the main reason of inducing ferromagnetism in P-ReS₂ system. This work provides a novel method to engineer the magnetism of TMDs, endowing them with the possibility of spintronic applications. (paper)