Identification of phonon symmetry and spin-phonon coupling in van der Waals antiferromagnetic FePSe3

Abstract

For engineering of van der Waals antiferromagnetic material FePSe3 and expanding its potential technological promise in spintronic fields, a detailed knowledge of the underlying physics of vibrational phonon modes and their coupling with the spin degree of freedom are undoubtedly needed. In this work, by angle-resolved polarized Raman spectroscopy in corroboration with first-principles calculation, the Raman modes of bulk FePSe3 have been rationally assigned, which clarify the ambiguity about symmetry identification of some Raman-active modes in previous studies. Moreover, through detailed temperature-dependent Raman scattering experiments, the abnormal shift of the frequency, linewidth, and integrated intensity across the Néel temperature have been identified for phonon modes associating with a non-magnetic [P2Se6]4- cluster. This can be well explained with the assistance of the spin-phonon coupling mechanism that involves the variation of the d electron transfer with lattice vibration in magnetic materials. Our results are helpful for uncovering the rich physics in FePSe3 and also for enriching the further understanding of magnetic van der Waals materials down to the 2D limit.