Low-dimensional van der Waals materials constitute fertile ground for exploring intertwined magnetism, transport, and optoelectronics, yet the structural provenance underlying the interplay among diverse quantum orders remains scarcely elucidated. Here, we report a rare case of simultaneous enhancement of magnetic order and photoconductivity in pressurized quasi-one-dimensional antiferromagnet MnSb2S4. Concomitant with a pressure-induced insulator-to-metal transition, MnSb2S4 exhibits a collapse of magnetic order and dramatic positive-to-negative photoconductivity switching at ∼30 GPa. Notably, possible superconductivity emerges with further compression. Detailed structural analyses and theoretical calculations corroborate these anomalous behaviors and unravel sequential pressure-driven orbital and spin crossover of Mn2+, accompanied by opposite evolutions of Jahn-Teller distortions in two inequivalent MnS6 octahedra. The intriguing electronic and structural evolutions establish MnSb2S4 as a promising candidate for versatile device engineering and offer an ideal platform for deciphering intricate coupling among multiple degrees of freedom.
Li et al. (Wed,) studied this question.