Effect of Ho dopant on the ferromagnetic characteristics of MoS₂ nanocrystals

Transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) have been widely studied for decades in the spintronic device application. However, designing and tuning the magnetic properties of molybdenum disulphide (MoS2) is still a great challenge. In this work, the as-synthesized MoS2:Ho3+ nanocrystals exhibit robust room-temperature ferromagnetism and the ferromagnetism is controlled by different doping concentrations of Ho3+ ions. The maximum saturation magnetization is 0.055 emu g-1. Based on first-principles calculations, the intrinsic ferromagnetic and the changed electronic properties are introduced by Ho3+ doping. The as-obtained MoS2:Ho3+ nanocrystals with intrinsic ferromagnetism may be a potential candidate in the spintronics field and this approach may be employed in the magnetic applications of other TMDs.