In our recent work recently appeared on Nanoscale Horizons, we demonstrate the synthesis of single-crystalline, ultra-thin flakes of Cu₂Se using the chemical vapor deposition technique. Using these novel samples, we employed high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction to show that Cu₂Se loses Cu at the edges of the crystal due to the unique edge faceting of the crystals. The resulting Cu vacancies can create an order within the crystal due to the mobile Cu ions. We demonstrate that Cu₂Se exhibits an ion transport mediated insulator to metal transition (IMT) resulting in six orders of magnitude change in resistivity, accompanied by an alteration in the optical contrast. Existing research is focused on polycrystalline or bulk samples, which are known to pose granularity effects that hinder the IMT and associated optical and electrical changes. Our results show that the Cu vacancy ordered phase can be manipulated persistently using a focused laser beam. The studies reported here set the first example of an intrinsic ion-mediated IMT. The unique persistent phase manipulation of the vacancy-ordered IMT provides a path for studying correlation effects. Moreover, the single crystals of Cu₂Se can help develop a better understanding of the low-temperature phase of Cu₂Se.