Breaking through the Mermin-Wagner limit in 2D van der Waals magnets

The Mermin-Wagner theorem states that long-range magnetic order does not exist in one- (1D) or two-dimensional (2D) isotropic magnets with short-ranged interactions. Here we show that in finite-size 2D van der Waals magnets typically found in lab setups (within millimetres), short-range interactions can be large enough to allow the stabilisation of magnetic order at finite temperatures without any magnetic anisotropy. We demonstrate that magnetic ordering can be created in 2D flakes independent of the lattice symmetry due to the intrinsic nature of the spin exchange interactions and finite-size effects. Surprisingly we find that the crossover temperature, where the intrinsic magnetisation changes from superparamagnetic to a completely disordered paramagnetic regime, is weakly dependent on the system length, requiring giant sizes (e.g., of the order of the observable universe ~ 10²⁶ m) to observe the vanishing of the magnetic order as expected from the Mermin-Wagner theorem. Our findings indicate exchange interactions as the main ingredient for 2D magnetism.