Intrinsic Van Der Waals Magnetic Materials from Bulk to the 2D Limit: New Frontiers of Spintronics

2D van der Waals (vdW) magnets, which present intrinsic ferromagnetic/antiferromagnetic ground states at finite temperatures down to atomic-layer thicknesses, open a new horizon in materials science and enable the potential development of new spin-related applications. The layered structure of vdW magnets facilitates their atomic-layer cleavability and magnetic anisotropy, which counteracts spin fluctuations, thereby providing an ideal platform for theoretically and experimentally exploring magnetic phase transitions in the 2D limit. With reduced dimensions, the susceptibility of 2D magnets to a large variety of external stimuli also makes them more promising than their bulk counterpart in various device applications. Here, the current status of characterization and tuning of the magnetic properties of 2D vdW magnets, particularly the atomic-layer thickness, is presented. Various state-of-the-art optical and electrical techniques have been applied to reveal the magnetic states of 2D vdW magnets. Other emerging 2D vdW magnets and future perspectives on the stacking strategy are also given; it is believed that they will excite more intensive research and provide unprecedented opportunities in the field of spintronics.