Abstract
We report combined x-ray diffraction (XRD) and electrical transport studies of the van der Waals (vdW) insulator NiPS3 to elucidate a pressure-induced insulator-to-metal transition (IMT). On application of quasihydrostatic pressure, two successive structural transitions occur at 10 and 29.4 GPa, as evidenced by the XRD and resistivity measurements. The concomitant IMT with a monoclinic-to-trigonal structural transition near 29.4 GPa turns out to be a common feature of the MPS3 family (M=transition metals). Under uniaxial-like pressure, the critical pressure for IMT is drastically reduced to P=12.5 GPa. These results showcase that the IMT is susceptible to strain and hydrostatic environments and that pressure offers a new venue to control a dimensional crossover in layered vdW materials.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 124008 |
| Journal | Physical Review Materials |
| Volume | 5 |
| Issue number | 12 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2021 Dec |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The work at SKKU was supported by the National Research Foundation (NRF) of Korea (Grants No. 2020R1A2C3012367 and No. 2020R1A5A1016518). R.S. and K.M. acknowledge the financial support provided by the Ministry of Science and Technology in Taiwan under Project No. MOST-110-2112-M-001-065-MY3 and Academia Sinica budget of AS-iMATE-112-12. Y.L. thanks the support of the NRF via Grant No. 2018R1A3B1052042. K.J.L. and S.H.C. were supported by the NRF of Korea (Grant No. 2019K1A3A7A09033393).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 American Physical Society.
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Materials Science(all)
- Physics and Astronomy (miscellaneous)