Atomically thin van der Waals magnets: a career in flatland

Layered magnetic materials are at the origin of modern magnetism and among the very first compounds to be explored at cryogenic temperatures. The phenomenon of magnetic ordering in layers has tantalized condensed matter physicists ever since the theory put forward by Mermin and Wagner demonstrating that long-range ordering in low dimensions is forbidden in an isotropic spin lattice. In order to confirm this hypothesis, many experiments have been performed in the aforementioned layered crystals as an approximation of a two-dimensional (2D) spin lattice. However, interlayer coupling in bulk systems is not negligible and an approach for the study of true 2D magnetism had been for a long time. With the avenue the 2D materials a genuine approach to correlated states in low-dimensions has been unlocked. In this talk I will narrate the launch of my independent reasearch carrier, which has been intimately tied to our discovery of the first free-standing 2D ferromagnet made out of a single layer of a ferromagnetic insulator: chromium triiodide. I will try to stimulate for risk taking and multidisciplinarity in condensed matter physics careers and provide insight into timely research opportunities.