  The van der Waals magnets CrX$_3$ (X = I, Br, and Cl) exhibit highly tunable
magnetic properties and are promising candidates for developing novel
two-dimensional (2D) magnetic devices such as magnetic tunnel junctions and
spin tunneling transistors. Previous studies of CrCl$_3$ have mainly focused on
mechanically exfoliated samples. Controlled synthesis of high quality
atomically thin flakes is critical for their technological implementation but
has not been achieved to date. Here, we report the growth of large CrCl$_3$
flakes with well-defined facets down to monolayer thickness (~0.6 nm) via the
physical vapor transport technique. Both isolated flakes with well-defined
facets and long stripe samples with the trilayer portion exceeding 60 $\mu$m
have been obtained. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy studies
show that the CrCl$_3$ flakes are single crystalline in the monoclinic
structure, consistent with the Raman results. The room temperature stability of
the CrCl$_3$ flakes decreases with decreasing thickness. The tunneling
magnetoresistance of graphite/CrCl$_3$/graphite tunnel junctions confirms that
few-layer CrCl$_3$ possesses in-plane magnetic anisotropy and N\'eel
temperature of 17 K. Our study paves the path for developing CrCl$_3$-based
scalable 2D spintronic applications.
