Re-emerging magnetic order in correlated van der Waals antiferromagnet NiPS₃

Van der Waals (vdW) gap is a significant feature that distinguishes vdW magnets from traditional magnets. Manipulating the magnetic properties by changing the vdW gap has been hot topic in condensed matter research. Here we report a re-emerging magnetic order induced by pressure in a correlated vdW antiferromagnetic insulator NiPS3. It is found that the interlayer magnetoresistance (MR) nearly vanishes at the critical pressure where the crystal structure transforms from C2/m phase to the sliding C2/m phase. On further compression within the sliding C2/m phase, a substantially enhanced MR emerges from low temperature associated with an insulator-to-metal transition, indicating a metallic antiferromagnetic phase. The enhanced re-emerging MR in sliding C2/m phase can be ascribed to the increasing magnetic interaction between neighboring layers due to the vdW gap narrowing. Our results provide important experimental clues for understanding the pressure effects on magnetism in correlated layered materials.