Observation of three-state nematicity and domain evolution in atomically-thin antiferromagnetic NiPS3

Abstract

Nickel phosphorus trisulfide (NiPS3), a van der Waals (vdW) 2D antiferromagnet, has captivated enormous attention for its intriguing physics in recent years. However, despite its fundamental importance in physics of magnetism and promising potential for technological applications, the study of magnetic domains in NiPS3 down to atomically thin is still lacking. Here, we report the layer-dependent magnetic characteristics and magnetic domains within antiferromagnetic NiPS3 by employing linear dichroism (LD) combined with polarized microscopy, spin-correlated photoluminescence (PL), and Raman spectroscopy. Our results reveal the existence of the paramagnetic-to-antiferromagnetic phase transition in bulk to bilayer NiPS3 with stronger spin fluctuation in thinner NiPS3. Furthermore, our study identifies three distinct antiferromagnetic domains within atomicallythin NiPS3 and captures the thermally-activated domain evolution. Our findings provide crucial insights for the development of antiferromagnetic spintronics and related technologies.

References in corpus (22)

• Magnetic 2D materials and heterostructures
• Ising-Type Magnetic Ordering in Atomically Thin FePS3
• Suppression of magnetic ordering in XXZ-type antiferromagnetic monolayer NiPS3
• Evidence for a single-layer van der Waals multiferroic
• Spin-flop transition in atomically thin MnPS${}_3$ crystals
• Imaging the Néel vector switching in the monolayer antiferromagnet MnPSe${}_3$ with strain-controlled Ising order
• Antiferromagnetic ordering in van der Waals two-dimensional magnetic material MnPS3 probed by Raman spectroscopy
• Highly Anisotropic Excitons and Multiple Phonon Bound States in a Van der Waals Antiferromagnetic Insulator
• Spin-Induced Linear Polarization of Excitonic Emission in Antiferromagnetic van der Waals Crystals
• Controlling the anisotropy of a van der Waals antiferromagnet with light
• Exciton-driven antiferromagnetic metal in a correlated van der Waals insulator
• Nanoscale mechanics of antiferromagnetic domain walls
• Observation of three-state nematicity in the triangular lattice antiferromagnet Fe${}_{1/3}$ NbS${}_2$
• Cavity-Enhanced Linear Dichroism in a van der Waals Antiferromagnet
• Magnetically brightened dark electron-phonon bound states in a van der Waals antiferromagnet
• The magnetic dynamics of NiPS${}_3$
• Direct imaging of antiferromagnetic domains and anomalous layer-dependent mirror symmetry breaking in atomically thin MnPS${}_3$
• Spin dynamics slowdown near the antiferromagnetic critical point in atomically thin FePS3
• Observation of giant surface second harmonic generation coupled to nematic orders in the van der Waals antiferromagnet FePS${}_3$
• Atomically sharp domain walls in an antiferromagnet
• Low-energy excitations and magnetic anisotropy of the layered van der Waals antiferromagnet Ni${}_2$P${}_2$S${}_6$
• Spontaneous orbital polarization in the nematic phase of FeSe

Cited by in corpus (6)

• Classification of electronic nematicity in three-dimensional crystals and quasicrystals
• Revealing the Electronic Structure of van der Waals Antiferromagnetic NiPS${}_3$ through Synchrotron-Based $\mu$-ARPES and Alkali Metal Dosing
• Unconventional magnon transport in antiferromagnet NiPS${}_3$ induced by an anisotropic spin-flop transition
• Compatible Instability: Gauge Constraints of Elasticity Inherited by Electronic Nematic Criticality
• Coarsening dynamics of Ising-nematic order in a frustrated Heisenberg antiferromagnet
• Signatures of three-state Potts nematicity in spin excitations of the van der Waals antiferromagnet FePSe${}_3$