  When Fe, which is a typical ferromagnet using d- or f-orbital states, is
combined with 2D materials such as graphene, it offers many opportunities for
spintronics. The origin of 2D magnetism is from magnetic insulating behaviors,
which could result in magnetic excitations and also proximity effects. However,
the phenomena were only observed at extremely low temperatures. Fe and graphene
interfaces could control spin structures in which they show a unique atomic
spin modulation and magnetic coupling through the interface. Another reason for
covering graphene on Fe is to prevent oxidation under ambient conditions. We
investigated the engineering of spin configurations by growing monolayer
graphene on an Fe(111) single crystal surface and observed the presence of
sharply branched, 3D tree-like domain structures. Magnetization by a sweeping
magnetic field (m-H) revealed that the interface showed canted magnetization in
the in-plane (IP) orientation. Moreover, graphene could completely prevent the
oxidation of the Fe surface. The results indicate possible control of the spin
structures at the atomic scale and the interface phenomena in the 2D structure.
The study introduces a new approach for room temperature 2D magnetism.
