Enhanced Coercivity in Spin-Orbit-Proximitized Cr₃Te₄ Ultrathin Films

Two-dimensional (2D) van der Waals (vdW) ferromagnets for spintronic applications require both a high enough Curie temperature (T_C) and large coercivity. However, while high-T_C systems have been intensively explored, achieving robust coercivity remains poorly demonstrated. Here we address this limitation through interfacial spin-orbit proximity effects. We develop vdW heterostructures consisting of an Ising ferromagnet Cr₃Te₄ and metallic transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) with broken in-plane inversion symmetry, including TaSe₂ and NbSe₂, and observe a large enhancement of the coercivity of Cr₃Te₄ without T_C degrading. A comparison between TaSe₂ and NbSe₂ shows a systematic correlation between coercivity enhancement and Zeeman-type spin-orbit interaction (SOI) in the TMDC layer. Furthermore, ion-gating experiments support the continuous tuning of magnetic anisotropy in ultrathin Cr₃Te₄ with enhanced coercivity. These results suggest that interfacial spin-orbit proximity effects associated with Zeeman SOI provide an effective route for reinforcing magnetic anisotropy in 2D Cr₃Te₄, providing a design principle for gate-tunable 2D spintronic devices.