van der Waals steel chalcogen thiophosphates have drawn elevated curiosity for numerous functions, together with power harvesting, electronics and optoelectronics. Regardless of this progress, the position of nanoscale ion migration in advanced middleman thiophosphate compounds has not been nicely understood, ensuing of their construction–property traits remaining elusive. Herein, we deal with copper-deficient CuCrInP2S6 as a prototypic layered thiophosphate compound to handle this shortcoming. Piezo drive microscopy reveals that this materials reveals uncommon cage-like area networks with an enhanced piezo response on the area boundaries. The related piezoelectric coefficient d33 is discovered to be among the many highest throughout reported van der Waals multi-layered supplies. These outcomes are additional complemented with Kelvin probe microscopy and second harmonic technology spectroscopy that disclose considerably elevated non-linear optical emission alongside these area boundaries. Ab initio calculations carried out together with nudge elastic principle present a deeper perception into the diffusion processes answerable for these noticed phenomena. These findings shed new gentle into middleman thiophosphate primarily based 2D compounds, highlighting future prospects in the direction of their use in emergent piezoelectric primarily based technological functions.
