Enhanced magnetic phase contrast at step edges of CrTe₂ flakes

We observed enhanced magnetic phase shift signals at step edges of exfoliated CrTe₂ flake’s boundary as compared with that at the interior of a flake at room temperature, using magnetic force microscopy under zero applied magnetic field. The high quality and stochiometric crystal was grown by K-intercalation method. Rectangular and triangular flakes exfoliated from the bulk crystal exhibit stray field distributions at step edges of flakes and the stray field distribution depends on the shape of flake and number of domains inside the flake. This stray field is confirmed through magnetostatic simulations. The simulations show the surface normal components of in-plane magnetization at flake’s geometric boundaries create stray field. The estimation of magnetic field strength at the steps is from scanning nitrogen-vacancy magnetometry. We observed the decay of magnetic contrast for flakes when exposed to an ambient environment for several weeks. These findings demonstrate how structural features such as steps and shape dictate magnetic textures in CrTe₂.