Study of emergent quantum phenomena of MPS3 under pressures
Abstract
The transition metal thiophosphates MPS3 (M = V, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, and Cd) compounds form a family of quasi-two-dimensional (2D) van der Waals compounds. The MPS3 family offers an enticing materials platform to study novel magnetic phenomena in low-dimensional systems and the promise for applications in spintronic devices because they can be exfoliated down to thin films. Recently, we have studied the insulator-to-metal transition and crystal structure evolution under high pressure in NiPS3 and CoPS3 through in-situ electrical resistance, Hall resistance, magnetoresistance, X-ray diffraction, and Raman scattering measurements. NiPS3 transforms from C2/m → P3̅ → P3̅m1 → P3m1 up to 23 GPa. The established phase diagram of MPS3 that metallizes under pressure, summarising the current and previous experimental studies, reveals that the electronic configurations at ambient pressure strongly influence the structural and electronic properties of MPS3 at high pressures, making this series of compounds suitable platforms for exploring new physical properties under compression.