Light-induced ferromagnetism above the Curie temperature in CrGeTe3

Ultrafast optical control of magnetism is a vibrant field in which femtosecond laser pulses are used to tune, manipulate, and enhance material magnetic properties. In this work, we induce ferromagnetism above TCurie by utilizing the coupling between spin and electrons in CrGeTe3. We suggest that the optical excitation electrons in CrGeTe3 induces a transition from a short-range to long-range magnetic ordering. We discuss the relation of the transition to the magnetic anisotropy of CrGeTe3 and the similarities of the photoinduced magnetism to cases where TCuriewas enhanced in CrGeTe3 by means of electrostatic gating, chemical doping, and hydrostatic pressure.