  Metallic ferromagnetic transition metal dichalcogenides have emerged as
important building blocks for scalable magnonics and memory applications.
Downscaling such systems to the ultra-thin limit is critical to integrate them
into technology. Here, we achieved layer-by-layer control over the transition
metal dichalcogenide Cr$_{1.6}$Te$_{2}$ by using pulsed laser deposition, and
we uncovered the minimum critical thickness above which room temperature
magnetic order is maintained. The electronic and magnetic structure is explored
experimentally and theoretically and it is shown that the films exhibit strong
in-plane magnetic anisotropy as a consequence of large spin-orbit effects. Our
study elucidates both magnetic and electronic properties of Cr$_{1.6}$Te$_{2}$,
and corroborates the importance of intercalation to tune the magnetic
properties of nanoscale materials architectures.
