arXiv · 2602.16083
Ligand Mediated Magnetic Coupling Across Metamagnetic Transitions in CrPS4
Abstract
Chromium thiophosphate (CrPS4) is a long-known material: a layered semiconducting antiferromagnet. Its recently discovered gate-tunable metamagnetic phase transitions, the remarkable positive and oscillating magnetoresistance as a tunnel barrier, and its Fano-resonance luminescence, elusive among the multitude of Cr3+ compounds, call for revisiting the understanding of its electronic structure, especially regarding how it relates to magnetic order. Here, we employ X-ray magnetic circular dichroism, implemented in both absorption and resonant inelastic X-ray spectroscopies, together with quantum many-body calculations, to unveil the role of metal-ligand covalency in mediating the metamagnetic transitions in CrPS4, using crystal-field and charge-transfer excitations as fingerprints of the evolving magnetic order. We reveal the role of extended superexchange paths involving P and S atoms, coupling interactions between the Cr spins across the different magnetic phases: antiferromagnetic, canted, and ferromagnetic. Our results elucidate the electronic states involved in these phases and provide prescriptions for engineering the metamagnetic phase diagram of CrPS4.
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Giuseppe Buccoliero, Rachel Nickel, Roberto Sant, Marli dos Reis Cantarino, Andrei Rogalev, Nathan J. Yutronkie, Tristan Riccardi, Daniel A. Chaney, Kurt Kummer, Johann Coraux, Nicholas B. Brookes. 2026-02-17. Ligand Mediated Magnetic Coupling Across Metamagnetic Transitions in CrPS4. https://doi.org/10.1103/g38t-lcj3
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