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Abstract Graphene is a privileged 2D platform for hosting confined light-matter excitations known as surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs), as it possesses low intrinsic losses and a high degree of optical confinement. However, the isotropic nature of graphene limits its ability to guide and focus SPPs, making it less suitable than anisotropic elliptical and hyperbolic materials for polaritonic lensing and canalization. Here, we present graphene/CrSBr as an engineered 2D interface that hosts highly anisotropic SPP propagation across mid-infrared and terahertz energies. Using scanning tunneling microscopy, scattering-type scanning near-field optical microscopy, and first-principles calculations, we demonstrate mutual doping in excess of 10¹³cm^–2holes/electrons between the interfacial layers of graphene/CrSBr. SPPs in graphene activated by charge transfer interact with charge-induced electronic anisotropy in the interfacial doped CrSBr, leading to preferential SPP propagation along the quasi-1D chains that compose each CrSBr layer. This multifaceted proximity effect both creates SPPs and endows them with anisotropic propagation lengths that differ by an order-of-magnitude between the in-plane crystallographic axes of CrSBr. 

Abstract Since their first observation in 2017, atomically thin van der Waals (vdW) magnets have attracted significant fundamental, and application-driven attention. However, their low ordering temperatures,T_c, sensitivity to atmospheric conditions and difficulties in preparing clean large-area samples still present major limitations to further progress, especially amongst van der Waals magnetic semiconductors. The remarkably stable, high-T_cvdW magnet CrSBr has the potential to overcome these key shortcomings, but its nanoscale properties and rich magnetic phase diagram remain poorly understood. Here we use single spin magnetometry to quantitatively characterise saturation magnetization, magnetic anisotropy constants, and magnetic phase transitions in few-layer CrSBr by direct magnetic imaging. We show pristine magnetic phases, devoid of defects on micron length-scales, and demonstrate remarkable air-stability down the monolayer limit. We furthermore address the spin-flip transition in bilayer CrSBr by imaging the phase-coexistence of regions of antiferromagnetically (AFM) ordered and fully aligned spins. Our work will enable the engineering of exotic electronic and magnetic phases in CrSBr and the realization of novel nanomagnetic devices based on this highly promising vdW magnet. 

The title triphenylamine derivative, C 24 H 17 Cl 2 N, featuring a 3,5-dichloro-1,1′-biphenyl moiety has been synthesized and structurally characterized. The molecular structure shows rotations of the phenyl rings in the range of 37–40° from the amine plane. In the crystal, the molecules interact by van der Waals interactions. 

Recently discovered diamond nanothreads offer a stiff, sp 3 -hybridized backbone unachievable in conventional polymer synthesis that is formed through the solid-state pressure-induced polymerization of simple aromatics. This method enables monomeric A-B alternation to fully translate from co-crystal design to polymer backbone in a sequence-defined manner. Here, we report the compression of aryl:perfluoroaryl (Ar/ArF) co-crystals containing –OH and –CHO functional groups. We analyze the tolerance of these functional groups to polymerization, explore the possibility of keto–enol tautomerization, and compare the reaction outcomes of targeted solid-state Ar/ArF design on nanothread formation. Two new co-crystals comprising phenol:pentafluorobenzaldehyde (ArOH:ArFCHO) and benzaldehdye:pentafluorophenol (ArCHO:ArFOH) were synthesized through slow solvent evaporation. Analysis of the single-crystal structures revealed different hydrogen bonding patterns between the –OH and –CHO in each solid (tape and orthogonal dimers, respectively), in addition to markedly different π–π stacking distances within the Ar/ArF synthons. In situ Raman spectroscopy was used to monitor the compression of each co-crystal to 21 GPa and illustrated peak shifts for the –OH and –CHO stretching regions during compression. Photoluminescence corresponding to polymerization appeared at a lower pressure for the co-crystal with the smallest π–π stacking distance. Nevertheless, the recovered solid with the larger centroid : centroid and centroid : plane π–π stacking distances featured a diffraction ring consistent with the anticipated dimensions of a co-crystal-derived nanothread packing, indicating that both functional group interactions and parallel stacking affect the pressure-induced polymerization to form nanothreads. IR spectroscopy of the recovered samples revealed large shifts in the –OH & –CHO stretching regions, particularly noticable for ArCHO:ArFOH, which may reflect geometrical constraints associated with forming a rigid thread backbone under pressure. Simulation suggests that hydrogen bonding networks may affect the relative compressibility of the co-crystal along a thread-forming axis to modulate the propensity for nanothread formation.