Progress in the studies of electronic and magnetic properties of layered MPX₃ materials (M: transition metal, X: chalcogen)

The recent progress in the studies of 2D materials placed in front many experimental and theoretical works on the interesting class of materials, the so-called transition metal phosphorus trichalcogenides with structural formula MPX3 (M: transition metal, X: chalcogen). Here, the diversity in the M/X combination opens the possibility to tune the electronic and magnetic properties of these materials in a very wide range, resulting in many interesting physical phenomena followed by the promoting their use in different application areas. This review gives a timely overview of the recent progress in the fundamental studies of electronic structure and magnetic properties of MPX3 materials (M: Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, X: S, Se) focusing on the results obtained by density functional theory, Raman spectroscopy and electron spectroscopy methods. We pay close attention to the large amount of theoretical and experimental data giving critical analysis of the previously obtained results. It is shown how the systematic fundamental studies of the electronic and magnetic properties of MPX3 can help to understand the functionality of these interesting 2D materials in different applications, ranging from optoelectronics to catalysis.