Pressure-induced enhancement of optoelectronic properties in PtS_2

PtS_2, which is one of the group-10 transition metal dichalcogenides, attracts increasing attention due to its extraordinary properties under external modulations as predicted by theory, such as tunable bandgap and indirect-to-direct gap transition under strain; however, these properties have not been verified experimentally. Here we report the first experimental exploration of its optoelectronic properties under external pressure. We find that the photocurrent is weakly pressuredependent below 3 GPa but increases significantly in the pressure range of 3 GPa–4 GPa, with a maximum ～ 6 times higher than that at ambient pressure. X-ray diffraction data shows that no structural phase transition can be observed up to26.8 GPa, which indicates a stable lattice structure of PtS_2 under high pressure. This is further supported by our Raman measurements with an observation of linear blue-shifts of the two Raman-active modes to 6.4 GPa. The pressure-enhanced photocurrent is related to the indirect-to-direct/quasi-direct bandgap transition under pressure, resembling the gap behavior under compression strain as predicted theoretically.     

Mn_(1-x)Zn_xCr_2O_4(0.0≤x≤1.0)晶体结构与磁性研究

通过固相反应法制备了尖晶石氧化物Mn1-xZnxCr2O4(0.0≤x≤1.0)多晶系列样品,并对其晶体结构和磁性进行了系统研究.研究结果表明,系列样品具有立方尖晶石结构,随Zn掺杂浓度x增大,晶格常数单调减小,体系的阻挫因子逐渐增大.低温下MnCr2O4表现为共线亚铁磁和螺旋亚铁磁的共存.当x≤0.4时,随着x增大,4.5T磁场下所测量的磁化强度逐渐减小,矫顽力逐渐增大,表明体系中的螺旋亚铁磁成分逐渐增多.随着x进一步增加,样品x=0.6和0.8表现为自旋玻璃态特征,最终在x=1.0时转变为强阻挫的反铁磁态.     

Pressure-Induced Metallization Accompanied by Elongated S–S Dimer in Charge Transfer Insulator NiS_2

The insulator-metal transition triggered by pressure in charge transfer insulator NiS2 is investigated by combining high-pressure electrical transport,synchrotron x-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy measurements up to40-50 GPa.Upon compression,we show that the metallization firstly appears in the low temperature region at～3.2 GPa and then extends to room temperature at～8.0 GPa.During the insulator-metal transition,the bond length of S-S dimer extracted from the synchrotron x-ray diffraction increases with pressure,which is supported by the observation of abnormal red-shift of the Raman modes between 3.2 and 7.1 GPa.Considering the decreasing bonding-antibonding splitting due to the expansion of S-S dimer,the charge gap between the S-ppπ* band and the upper Hubbard band of Ni-3 d eg state is remarkabl.y decreased.These results consistently indicate that the elongated S-S dimer plays a predominant role in the insulator-metal transition under high pressure,even though the p-d hybridization is enhanced simultaneously,in accordance with a scenario of charge-gap-controlled type.