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Updated: May 19, 2026

Visualizing Uniaxial-strain Manipulation of Antiferromagnetic Domains in Fe1+YTe Using a Spin-polarized Scanning Tunneling Microscope
Published on: March 24, 2019
Pressure-Induced Chemical Bonding Effects on Lattice and Magnetic Instabilities in Antiferromagnetic Insulating
Matt Boswell1, Antonio M Dos Santos2, Mingyu Xu1
1Department of Chemistry, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, United States.
Abstract:
Exotic quantum phenomena often emerge near an electronic delocalization transition (EDT) from an antiferromagnetic insulating phase to a strongly correlated metallic state under pressure. We report the pressure-induced structural and magnetic evolution of the antiferromagnetic insulator CaMn2Sb2. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction reveals a first-order phase transition near 5.4 GPa from a trigonal P-3m1 structure to a monoclinic P21/m phase accompanied by a ∼7% volume collapse. Residual electron density analysis at intermediate pressures reveals charge localization along Mn-Sb chains, signaling electronic instability preceding the structural transition. Bonding analysis indicates anisotropic Mn-Sb orbital reconfiguration under pressure, driving a distorted square-pyramidal geometry. Neutron scattering confirms the transition and identifies a pressure-induced incommensurate magnetic order, distinct from the ambient antiferromagnetic state. In the monoclinic phase, zigzag Mn chains exhibit antiferromagnetic coupling along the ac-plane, enabled by enhanced orbital overlap. These results establish CaMn2Sb2 as a model system for studying the coupling of structural distortion, charge redistribution, and magnetic order in layered Mn pnictides under pressure.
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