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This dataset contains simulations generated by Sunny.jl of the magnetic excitations on the NiPS3 lattice. The exchange parameters are varied over the system so these simulations can be used for AI model training.
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The d electron plays a significant role in determining and controlling the properties of magnetic materials. However, the d electron transitions, especially d–d emission, have rarely been observed in magnetic materials due to the forbidden selection rules. Here, we report an observation of d–d emission in antiferromagnetic nickel phosphorus trisulfides (NiPS3) and its strong enhancement by stacking it with monolayer tungsten disulfide (WS2). We attribute the observation of the strong d–d emission enhancement to the charge transfer between NiPS3 and WS2 in the type-I heterostructure. The d–d emission peak splits into two peaks, D1 and D2, at low temperature below 150 K, from where an energy splitting due to the trigonal crystal field is measured as 105 meV. Moreover, we find that the d–d emissions in NiPS3 are nonpolarized lights, showing no dependence on the zigzag antiferromagnetic configuration. These results reveal rich fundamental information on the electronic and optical properties of emerging van der Waals antiferromagnetic NiPS3.
NiPS3 crystallizes in the monoclinic C2/m space group. The structure is two-dimensional and consists of one NiPS3 sheet oriented in the (0, 0, 1) direction. Ni1+ is bonded to six S2- atoms to form edge-sharing NiS6 octahedra. There are two shorter (2.43 Å) and four longer (2.44 Å) Ni–S bond lengths. P5+ is bonded in a trigonal planar geometry to three S2- atoms. All P–S bond lengths are 2.06 Å. There are two inequivalent S2- sites. In the first S2- site, S2- is bonded in a distorted trigonal non-coplanar geometry to two equivalent Ni1+ and one P5+ atom. In the second S2- site, S2- is bonded in a distorted trigonal non-coplanar geometry to two equivalent Ni1+ and one P5+ atom.
Inelastic magnetic spectra for NiPS3 as published in Phys. Rev. B 108, 104402, 2023; https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.108.104402 . Analysis scripts and SpinW code also included.
Abstract Magnetic van der Waals (vdW) materials have opened new frontiers for realizing novel many-body phenomena. Recently NiPS 3 has received intense interest since it hosts an excitonic quasiparticle whose properties appear to be intimately linked to the magnetic state of the lattice. Despite extensive studies, the electronic character, mobility, and magnetic interactions of the exciton remain unresolved. Here we address these issues by measuring NiPS 3 with ultra-high energy resolution resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS). We find that Hund’s exchange interactions are primarily responsible for the energy of formation of the exciton. Measuring the dispersion of the Hund’s exciton reveals that it propagates in a way that is analogous to a double-magnon. We trace this unique behavior to fundamental similarities between the NiPS 3 exciton hopping and spin exchange processes, underlining the unique magnetic characteristics of this novel quasiparticle.
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Atomically flat surfaces of van der Waals (vdW) materials pave an avenue for addressing a long-standing fundamental issue of how a compensated antiferromagnet (AFM) surface frustrates a ferromagnetic (FM) overlayer in FM/AFM heterostructures. We investigate Fe5GeTe2/NiPS3 vdW heterostructures by characterizing AFM and FM spins separately. We find that in-plane zig-zag AFM NiPS3 develops three equivalent AFM domains, which are robust against external magnetic field and magnetic coupling with Fe5GeTe2. Moreover, evidence is provided of in-plane-AFM-induced perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) in adjacent Fe5GeTe2, and an unconventional out-of-plane surface spin canting state with the Fe5GeTe2 spins spatially turn from out-of-plane direction near the interface to in-plane direction away from the interface in Fe5GeTe2/NiPS3. The out-of-plane surface spin canting is a unique property of spin frustration in vdW magnetic heterostructures.
Here we demonstrate phase control of magnons in the van der Waals antiferromagnet NiPS3 using optical excitation by polarized light. The sign of the coherent precession of spin amplitude changes upon (i) reversing the helicity of a circularly polarized pump beam, or (ii) rotating the polarization of a linearly polarized pump by π/2. Because these two excitation pathways have comparable generation efficiency, the phase of spin precession can be continuously tuned from 0 to 2π by controlling the polarization state of the pump pulse. The ability to excite magnons with a desired phase has potential applications in the design of a spin-wave phased array and ultrafast spin information processing.
New photoelectrochemical results for the layered chalcogenophosphate compounds MPX3, FePS3, NiPS3, and SnPS3 are presented. The compounds were grown by iodine vapor transport in quartz ampules from a stoichiometric amount of the elements. Crystals of the layered type up to 10 mm x 10 mm x 0.1 mm were grown. The results of the layered compounds from the MPX3 series show good stability in acid solutions under photoelectrolysis condition. The relatively slow increase in the photocurrent with increasing electrode potential suggests high recombination rates for the photogenerated carriers in these layered materials. It is noted that improvements may be possible by, for example, optimizing the preparation of the crystals and the electrode surfaces.
Transition metal (i.e., Mn, Fe, Cr) and chalcogen (Se) substituents are introduced into single-crystalline NiPS 3 , and the evolution of the two emergent quasi-particle excitations characteristic to the XXZ correlated antiferromagnetism of NiPS 3 (i.e., spin orbit entangled exciton (SOX) and two-magnon scattering (2M )) are investigated as functions of substituent concentration through comprehensive room- and low-temperature photoluminescence (PL) and Raman spectroscopy studies. These findings are further correlated with the magnetic properties of the same set of compounds reported in prior studies. The work revealed that the SOX emission intensities and linewidths are mainly controlled by the magnetic anisotropy and spin orientations, and are strongly suppressed by the introduction of substituents. The suppression depends on the type of substituent, with Fe affecting the SOX emission more than Mn and Cr. The 2 M scattering is linked to short-range correlations and exhibits greater resiliency against metal atom substitution. While the 2M peak at low temperature gets suppressed and red-shifted in frequency with increasing concentrations of all the substituents, Fe induces the weakest suppression compared to all other substituents. Altogether, these findings revealed the introduction of substituents as a powerful route to control the emergent collective excitations in NiPS 3 and mixed-MPX 3 materials.
van der Waals (vdW) magnets have rapidly emerged as a fertile playground for fundamental physics and exciting applications. Despite the impressive developments over the past few years, technical limitations pose a severe challenge to many other potential breakthroughs. High on the list is the lack of suitable experimental tools for studying spin dynamics on atomically thin samples. Here, Raman scattering techniques are employed to directly observe the low-lying magnon (~1 meV) even in bilayer NiPS 3 . Further, the advantage is that it offers excellent energy resolutions far better on low-energy sides than most inelastic neutron spectrometers can offer. More importantly, with appropriate theoretical analysis, the polarization dependence of the Raman scattering by those low-lying magnons also provides otherwise hidden information on the dominant spin-exchange scattering paths for different magnons. By comparing with high-resolution inelastic neutron scattering data, these low-energy Raman modes are confirmed to be indeed of magnon origin. Because of the different scattering mechanisms involved in inelastic neutron and Raman scattering, this information is fundamental in pinning down the final spin Hamiltonian. This work demonstrates the capability of Raman spectroscopy to probe the genuine two-dimensional spin dynamics in atomically thin vdW magnets, which can provide insights that are obscured in bulk spin dynamics.
Van der Waals (vdW) magnetic materials are comprised of layers of atomically thin sheets, making them ideal platforms for studying magnetism at the two-dimensional (2D) limit. These materials are at the center of a host of novel types of experiments, however, there are notably few pathways to directly probe their magnetic structure. We confirm the magnetic order within a single crystal of NiPS 3 and show it can be accessed with resonant elastic X-ray diffraction along the edge of the vdW planes in a carefully grown crystal by detecting structurally forbidden resonant magnetic X-ray scattering. We find the magnetic order parameter has a critical exponent of β ~ 0.36, indicating that the magnetism of these vdW crystals is more adequately characterized by the three-dimensional (3D) Heisenberg universality class. We verify these findings with first-principles density functional theory, Monte-Carlo simulations, and density matrix renormalization group calculations.
It is undeniable that novel 2D devices and heterostructures will have a lasting impact on the advancement of future technologies. However, the inherent instability of many exfoliated van der Waals (vdW) materials is a well-known hurdle yet to be overcome. Thus, the sustained interest in exfoliated vdW materials underscores the importance of understanding the mechanisms of sample degradation to establish proactive protective measures. Here, the impact of prolonged synchrotron-based X-ray beam exposure on exfoliated flakes of two contemporary vdW materials, NiPS 3 and α-RuCl 3 , is explored using resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS) and total fluorescence yield X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS). In NiPS 3 , the resulting RIXS and XAS spectra show a suppression, then vanishing, of NiS 6 multiplet excitations coupled with an upward shift of the peak energy of the XAS as a function of X-ray dose. In α-RuCl 3 , the signs of beam damage from the RIXS spectra are less evident. However, the post-experiment characterization of both materials using Raman spectroscopy exhibits signals of an amorphous and disordered system compared to pristine flakes; in addition, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy of NiPS 3 shows evidence of ligand vacancies. As synchrotron radiation is fast becoming a required probe to study 2D vdW materials, these findings lay the groundwork for the development of future protective measures for synchrotron-based prolonged X-ray beam exposure, as well as for X-ray free electron laser.