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Recent advances in the study of cobaltites have unveiled their potential as a promising platform for realizing Kitaev physics in honeycomb systems and the Ising model in weakly coupled chain materials. In this manuscript, we explore the magnetic properties of pyroxene SrCoGe[Formula: see text]O[Formula: see text] using a combination of neutron scattering, ab initio methods, and linear spin-wave theory. Through careful examination of inelastic neutron scattering powder spectra, we propose a modified Kitaev model to accurately describe the twisted chains of edge-sharing octahedra surrounding Co[Formula: see text] ions. The extended Kitaev-Heisenberg model, including a significant anisotropic bond-dependent exchange term with [Formula: see text], is identified as the key descriptor of the magnetic interactions in SrCoGe[Formula: see text]O[Formula: see text]. Furthermore, our heat capacity measurements reveal an effect of an external magnetic field (approximately 13 T) which shifts the system from a fragile antiferromagnetic ordering with [Formula: see text] K to a field-induced state. We argue that pyroxenes, particularly those modified by substituting Ge with Si and its less extended [Formula: see text] orbitals, emerge as a platform for the Kitaev model. This opens up possibilities for advancing our understanding of Kitaev physics., Competing Interests: Competing interests statement:The authors declare no competing interest.

In this work, we explore the electronic properties and chemical bonding in the recently discovered mineral zaykovite, the first natural rhodium selenide Rh3Se4. We comprehensively studied the bulk electronic structure, hybridization of rhodium and selenium orbitals, and the influence of spin-orbit interaction on the electronic spectrum, as well as inspected its topological properties. In addition, we investigated the surface electronic structure of zaykovite and revealed the anisotropic Rashba-type spin splitting in the surface states. In addition, using calculations of the phonon spectra and enthalpy of formation, we predicted the family of similar selenides based on other 4d and 5d transition metals such as Ir, Pd, and Pt. The structural and electronic properties of these materials are discussed., (© 2024 Author(s). Published under an exclusive license by AIP Publishing.)

The importance of many-body effects on the electronic and magnetic properties and stability of different structural phases was studied in novel iron oxide Fe 2 O. It was found that while Hubbard repulsion hardly affects the electronic spectrum of this material ( m */ m ≈ 1.2), it strongly changes its phase diagram, shifting critical pressures of structural transitions to much lower values. Moreover, the P 3̄ m 1 structure previously obtained in the density functional theory (DFT) becomes energetically unstable if many-body effects are taken into consideration. It is shown that these changes are due to magnetic moment fluctuations in the DFT+DMFT (method which combines density functional theory and dynamical mean-field theory) approach, which strongly modify the phase diagram of Fe 2 O.

Control of a single ionic charge state by altering the number of bound electrons has been considered as an ultimate testbed for atomic charge-induced interactions and manipulations, and such subject has been studied in artificially deposited objects on thin insulating layers. We demonstrate that an entire layer of controllable atomic charges on a periodic lattice can be obtained by cleaving metallic Co 1/3 NbS 2 , an intercalated transition metal dichalcogenide. We identified a metastable charge state of Co with a different valence and manipulated atomic charges to form a linear chain of the metastable charge state. Density functional theory investigation reveals that the charge state is stable due to a modified crystal field at the surface despite the coupling between NbS 2 and Co via a 1g orbitals. The idea can be generalized to other combinations of intercalants and base matrices, suggesting that they can be a new platform to explore single-atom-operational 2D electronics/spintronics.

A series of DFT calculations for two layered compounds with honeycomb lattice-α-TiCl 3 and α-TiBr 3 has been performed. It was shown that the symmetric SU(4) spin-orbital model recently proposed for d 1 systems with honeycomb lattice cannot be realized in these titanates because they dimerize in the low temperature phase. This explains experimentally observed drop in magnetic susceptibility of α-TiBr 3 . Our results also suggest formation of valence-bond liquid state in the high-temperature phase of α-TiCl 3 and α-TiBr 3 ., (© 2021 IOP Publishing Ltd.)

Uniform quasi-one-dimensional integer spin compounds are of interest as a potential realization of the Haldane conjecture of a gapped spin liquid. This phase, however, has to compete with magnetic anisotropy and long-range ordered phases, the implementation of which depends on the ratio of interchain J' and intrachain J exchange interactions and both uniaxial D and rhombic E single-ion anisotropies. Strontium nickel selenite chloride, Sr 2 Ni(SeO 3 ) 2 Cl 2 , is a spin-1 chain system which passes through a correlations regime at T max  ~ 12 K to long-range order at T N  = 6 K. Under external magnetic field it experiences the sequence of spin-flop at B c1  = 9.0 T and spin-flip transitions B c2  = 23.7 T prior to full saturation at B sat  = 31.0 T. Density functional theory provides values of the main exchange interactions and uniaxial anisotropy which corroborate the experimental findings. The values of J'/J = 0.083 and D/J = 0.357 place this compound into a hitherto unoccupied sector of the Sakai-Takahashi phase diagram., (© 2021. The Author(s).)

The Jahn-Teller (JT) theorem constitutes one of the most fundamental concepts in chemistry. In transition-element chemistry, the 3d 4 and 3d 9 configurations in octahedral complexes are particularly illustrative, where a distortion in local geometry is associated with a reduction of the electronic energy. However, there has been a lasting debate about the fact that the octahedra are found to exclusively elongate. In contrast, for Na 9 Bi 5 Os 3 O 24 , the octahedron around Os 6+ (5d 2 ) is heavily compressed, lifting the degeneracy of the t 2g set of 5d orbitals such that in the sense of a JT compression a diamagnetic ground state results. This effect is not forced by structural constraints, the structure offers sufficient space for osmium to shift the apical oxygen atoms to a standard distance. The relevance of these findings is far reaching, since they provide new insights in the hierarchy of perturbations defining ground states of open shell electronic systems., (© 2021 The Authors. Angewandte Chemie International Edition published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

The properties of transition metal compounds are largely determined by nontrivial interplay of different degrees of freedom: charge, spin, lattice, and also orbital ones. Especially rich and interesting effects occur in systems with orbital degeneracy. For example, they result in the famous Jahn-Teller effect, leading to a plethora of consequences for static and dynamic properties, including nontrivial quantum effects. In the present review, we discuss the main phenomena in the physics of such systems, paying central attention to the novel manifestations of those. After shortly summarizing the basic phenomena and their descriptions, we concentrate on several specific directions in this field. One of them is the reduction of effective dimensionality in many systems with orbital degrees of freedom due to the directional character of orbitals, with the concomitant appearance of some instabilities that lead in particular to the formation of dimers, trimers, and similar clusters in a material. The properties of such cluster systems, which are largely determined by their orbital structure, are discussed in detail, and many specific examples of those in different materials are presented. Another big field that has acquired special significance relatively recently is the role of the relativistic spin-orbit interaction. The mutual influence of this interaction and the more traditional Jahn-Teller physics is treated in detail in the second part of the review. In discussing all of these questions, special attention is paid to novel quantum effects.

Structural properties of CuAl 2 O 4 , which was recently argued to show unusual suppression of the Jahn-Teller distortions by the spin-orbit coupling, are investigated under pressures up to 6 GPa. Analysis of x-ray powder diffraction experiments shows that CuAl 2 O 4 gets unstable and decomposes onto CuO and Al 2 O 3 at pressures ∼6 GPa and temperature ∼1000 K. This finding is complemented by the density-functional theory + U + spin-orbit coupling calculations, which demonstrate that this instability is partially driven by a (relatively) large compressibility of strongly Jahn-Teller distorted CuO., (© 2020 IOP Publishing Ltd.)

Recent discoveries of various novel iron oxides and hydrides, which become stable at very high pressure and temperature, are extremely important for geoscience. In this paper, we report the results of an investigation on the electronic structure and magnetic properties of the hydride FeO 2 H x , using density functional theory plus dynamical mean-field theory (DFT+DMFT) calculations. An increase in the hydrogen concentration resulted in the destruction of dimeric oxygen pairs and, hence, a specific band structure of FeO 2 with strongly hybridized Fe- t 2 g -O- p z anti-bonding molecular orbitals, which led to a metallic state with the Fe ions at nearly 3+. Increasing the H concentration resulted in effective mass enhancement growth which indicated an increase in the magnetic moment localization. The calculated static momentum-resolved spin susceptibility demonstrated that an incommensurate antiferromagnetic (AFM) order was expected for FeO 2 , whereas strong ferromagnetic (FM) fluctuations were observed for FeO 2 H.

Gold is inert and forms very few compounds. One of the most interesting of those is calaverite AuTe 2 , which has incommensurate structure and which becomes superconducting when doped or under pressure. There exist a 'sibling' of AuTe 2 , the mineral sylvanite AuAgTe 4 , which properties are almost unknown. In sylvanite Au and Ag ions are ordered in stripes, and Te 6 octahedra around metals are distorted in such a way that Ag becomes linearly coordinated, what is typical for Ag 1+  , whereas Au is square coordinated-it is typical for d 8 configurations, i.e. one can assign to Au the valence 3+. Our theoretical study shows that at pressure [Formula: see text] GPa there should occur in it a structural transition such that above this critical pressure Te 6 octahedra around Au and Ag become regular and practically identical. Simultaneously Te-Te dimers, existing at P  =  0 GPa, disappear, and material from a bad metal becomes a usual metal with predominantly Te 5p  states at the Fermi energy. We expect that, similar to AuTe 2 , AuAgTe 4 should become superconducting above [Formula: see text].

Young's archetypal double-slit experiment forms the basis for modern diffraction techniques: The elastic scattering of waves yields an interference pattern that captures the real-space structure. Here, we report on an inelastic incarnation of Young's experiment and demonstrate that resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS) measures interference patterns, which reveal the symmetry and character of electronic excited states in the same way as elastic scattering does for the ground state. A prototypical example is provided by the quasi-molecular electronic structure of insulating Ba 3 CeIr 2 O 9 with structural Ir dimers and strong spin-orbit coupling. The double "slits" in this resonant experiment are the highly localized core levels of the two Ir atoms within a dimer. The clear double-slit-type sinusoidal interference patterns that we observe allow us to characterize the electronic excitations, demonstrating the power of RIXS interferometry to unravel the electronic structure of solids containing, e.g., dimers, trimers, ladders, or other superstructures.

Gold is a very inert element, which forms relatively few compounds. Among them is a unique material-mineral calaverite, [Formula: see text] Besides being the only compound in nature from which one can extract gold on an industrial scale, it is a rare example of a natural mineral with incommensurate crystal structure. Moreover, it is one of few systems based on Au, which become superconducting (at elevated pressure or doped by Pd and Pt). Using ab initio calculations we theoretically explain these unusual phenomena in the picture of negative charge-transfer energy and self-doping, with holes being largely in the Te [Formula: see text] bands. This scenario naturally explains incommensurate crystal structure of [Formula: see text], and it also suggests a possible mechanism of superconductivity. An ab initio evolutionary search for stable compounds in the Au-Te system confirms stability of [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] and leads to a prediction of an as yet unknown stable compound AuTe, which until now has not been synthesized., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

We present measurements of resistivity, x-ray absorption (XAS) and emission (XES) spectroscopy together with ab initio band structure calculations for quasi two dimensional ruthenate Na 2 RuO 3 . Density function calculations (DFT) and XAS and XES spectra both show that Na 2 RuO 3 is a semiconductor with an activation energy of  ∼80 meV. Our DFT calculations reveal large magneto-elastic coupling in Na 2 RuO 3 and predict that the ground state of Na 2 RuO 3 should be antiferromagnetic zig-zag.

The copper salt of trifluoroacetic acid, Cu(CF 3 COO) 2 , offers a new platform to investigate the quantum ground states of low-dimensional magnets. In practice, it realizes the ideal case of a solid hosting essentially isolated magnetic monolayers. These entities are constituted by well-separated two-leg half-integer spin ladders organized in a zigzag fashion. The ladders are comprised of dimeric units of edge-sharing tetragonal pyramids coupled through carbon ions. The spin-gap state in this compound was revealed by static and dynamic magnetic measurements. No indications of long range magnetic ordering down to liquid helium temperature were obtained in specific heat measurements. First principles calculations allow estimation of the main exchange interaction parameters, J ⊥ =176 K and J ∥ =12 K, consistent with the weakly interacting dimers model., (© 2017 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

CuAl 2 O 4 is a normal spinel oxide having quantum spin, S  =  1/2 for Cu 2+ . It is a rather unique feature that the Cu 2+ ions of CuAl 2 O 4 sit at a tetrahedral position, not like the usual octahedral position for many oxides. At low temperatures, it exhibits all the thermodynamic evidence of a quantum spin glass. For example, the polycrystalline CuAl 2 O 4 shows a cusp centered at ~2 K in the low-field dc magnetization data and a clear frequency dependence in the ac magnetic susceptibility while it displays logarithmic relaxation behavior in a time dependence of the magnetization. At the same time, there is a peak at ~2.3 K in the heat capacity, which shifts towards a higher temperature with magnetic fields. On the other hand, there is no evidence of new superlattice peaks in the high-resolution neutron powder diffraction data when cooled from 40 to 0.4 K. This implies that there is no long-ranged magnetic order down to 0.4 K, thus confirming a spin glass-like ground state for CuAl 2 O 4 . Interestingly, there is no sign of structural distortion either although Cu 2+ is a Jahn-Teller active ion. Thus, we claim that an orbital liquid state is the most likely ground state in CuAl 2 O 4 . Of further interest, it also exhibits a large frustration parameter, f  =  |θ CW /T m | ~ 67, one of the largest values reported for spinel oxides. Our observations suggest that CuAl 2 O 4 should be a rare example of a frustrated quantum spin glass with a good candidate for an orbital liquid state.

Magnetism in transition metal compounds is usually considered starting from a description of isolated ions, as exact as possible, and treating their (exchange) interaction at a later stage. We show that this standard approach may break down in many cases, especially in 4d and 5d compounds. We argue that there is an important intersite effect-an orbital-selective formation of covalent metal-metal bonds that leads to an "exclusion" of corresponding electrons from the magnetic subsystem, and thus strongly affects magnetic properties of the system. This effect is especially prominent for noninteger electron number, when it results in suppression of the famous double exchange, the main mechanism of ferromagnetism in transition metal compounds. We study this mechanism analytically and numerically and show that it explains magnetic properties of not only several 4d-5d materials, including Nb2O2F3 and Ba5AlIr2O11, but can also be operative in 3d transition metal oxides, e.g., in CrO2 under pressure. We also discuss the role of spin-orbit coupling on the competition between covalency and magnetism. Our results demonstrate that strong intersite coupling may invalidate the standard single-site starting point for considering magnetism, and can lead to a qualitatively new behavior., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

We suggest a possible scenario for magnetic transition under pressure in dimerised systems where electrons are localised on molecular orbitals. The mechanism of transition is not related with competition between kinetic energy and on-site Coulomb repulsion as in Mott-Hubbard systems, or between crystal-field splitting and intra-atomic exchange as in classical atomic spin-state transitions. Instead, it is driven by the change of bonding-antibonding splitting on part of the molecular orbitals. In the magnetic systems with few half-filled molecular orbitals external pressure may result in increase of the bonding-antibonding splitting and localise all electrons on low-lying molecular orbitals suppressing net magnetic moment of the system. We give examples of the systems, where this or inverse transition may occur and by means of ab initio band structure calculations predict that it can be observed in α-MoCl4 at pressure P ~ 11 GPa.

When an electronic system has strong correlations and a large spin-orbit interaction, it often exhibits a plethora of mutually competing quantum phases. How a particular quantum ground state is selected out of several possibilities is a very interesting question. However, equally fascinating is how such a quantum entangled state breaks up due to perturbation. This important question has relevance in very diverse fields of science from strongly correlated electron physics to quantum information. Here we report that a quantum entangled dimerized state or valence bond crystal (VBC) phase of Li2RuO3 shows nontrivial doping dependence as we perturb the Ru honeycomb lattice by replacing Ru with Li. Through extensive experimental studies, we demonstrate that the VBC phase melts into a valence bond liquid phase of the RVB (resonating valence bond) type. This system offers an interesting playground where one can test and refine our current understanding of the quantum competing phases in a single compound.

We report the revised crystal structure, static and dynamic magnetic properties of quasi-two dimensional honeycomb-lattice silver delafossite Ag3Co2SbO6. The magnetic susceptibility and specific heat data are consistent with the onset of antiferromagnetic long range order at low temperatures with Néel temperature TN ∼ 21.2 K. In addition, the magnetization curves revealed a field-induced (spin-flop type) transition below TN in moderate magnetic fields. The GGA+U calculations show the importance of the orbital degrees of freedom, which maintain a hierarchy of exchange interaction in the system. The strongest antiferromagnetic exchange coupling was found in the shortest Co-Co pairs and is due to direct and superexchange interaction between the half-filled xz + yz orbitals pointing directly to each other. The other four out of six nearest neighbor exchanges within the cobalt hexagon are suppressed, since for these bonds the active half-filled orbitals turned out to be parallel and do not overlap. The electron spin resonance (ESR) spectra reveal a broad absorption line attributed to the Co(2+) ion in an octahedral coordination with an average effective g-factor g = 2.40 ± 0.05 at room temperature and show strong divergence of the ESR parameters below ∼150 K, which implies an extended region of short-range correlations. Based on the results of magnetic and thermodynamic studies in applied fields, we propose a magnetic phase diagram for the new honeycomb-lattice delafossite.

An unusual effect was discovered in Li et al (2010 J. Solid State Chem. 183 1388): the substitution of nonmagnetic low-spin Co(3+) in LaCoO3 by the formally isoelectronic and also nonmagnetic Rh(3+) led, surprisingly, to a rapid appearance of magnetism in LaCo(1-x)Rh(x)O3, even for small amounts of doping. Different explanations for this effect were proposed in the literature. To clarify the situation we carried out unbiased ab initio calculations of this system. We concluded that, in agreement with the original assumption of Li et al, but in contrast with later statements (Knizek et al 2012 Phys. Rev. B 85 134401), this effect is caused by the valence change ('redox reaction') Co(3+) +  Rh(3+) → Co(2+) +  Rh(4+), which creates magnetic Co(2+) and Rh(4+) ions. For the half-filled case LaCo1/2Rh1/2O3 we obtained the state with charge ordering of Co(2+) and Rh(4+) ions, which according to our calculations are antiferromagnetically coupled. The obtained results reasonably explain the observed behavior of the magnetic susceptibility of LaCo(1-x)Rh(x)O3, and the novel state predicted at half-doping could be verified experimentally by detailed structural and magnetic studies and by x-ray absorption spectroscopy.

Magnetic, thermodynamic, and dielectric properties of Li2Ni(WO4)2 of S  =  1 system have been studied using magnetic susceptibility, specific heat, and dielectric constant measurements. The magnetic orderings can be identified in three stages, including a short range magnetic ordering indicated by the rounded χ(T) peak with maximum at  ∼20 K, and signatures of two successful antiferromagnetic long range orderings near T(N1) ~ 18 K and T(N2) ~ 13 K revealed by the d(χ(T)) /d(T) peaks. The successive long range magnetic orderings are related to the quasi triangular symmetry breaking in the ac- and bc-planes and to the change of the dielectric constant, suggesting the presence of spin-phonon coupling. The specific heat and magnetic entropy analysis for Li2Ni(WO4)2 shows the existence of a significant low dimensional magnetic correlations at high temperature and confirms the long range three-dimensional (3D) behavior of magnetic orderings below T(N1) and T(N2).

The band structure calculations in the GGA+U approximation show the presence of additional lattice distortions in the magnetically ordered phase of AgCrS2. The magnetostriction leads to the formation of long and short Cr-Cr bonds in the case when the respective Cr ions have the same or opposite spin projections. These changes in the Cr lattice are accompanied by distortions of the CrS6 octahedra, which in turn lead to the development of spontaneous electric polarization.

The coupling of magnetic chiralities to the ferroelectric polarization in multiferroic RbFe(MoO4)2 is investigated by neutron spherical polarimetry. Because of the axiality of the crystal structure below T(c)=190   K, helicity and triangular chirality are symmetric-exchange coupled, explaining the onset of the ferroelectricity in this proper-screw magnetic structure--a mechanism that can be generalized to other systems with ferroaxial distortions in the crystal structure. With an applied electric field, we demonstrate control of the chiralities in both structural domains simultaneously.

Synchrotron x-ray diffraction experiment shows that the metal-insulator transition occurring in a ferromagnetic state of a hollandite K(2)Cr(8)O(16) is accompanied by a structural distortion from the tetragonal I4/m to monoclinic P112(1)/a phase with a √2×√2×1 supercell. Detailed electronic structure calculations demonstrate that the metal-insulator transition is caused by a Peierls instability in the quasi-one-dimensional column structure made of four coupled Cr-O chains running in the c direction, leading to the formation of tetramers of Cr ions below the transition temperature. This provides a rare example of the Peierls transition of fully spin-polarized electron systems.

Special features of the crystal field splitting of d-levels in the transition metal compounds with small or negative charge-transfer gaps Δ(CT) are considered. We show that in this case the Coulomb term and the covalent contribution to the t(2g)-e(g) splitting have different signs. In order to check theoretical predictions we carried out ab initio band structure calculations for Cs(2)Au(2)Cl(6), in which the charge-transfer gap is negative, so that the d-electrons predominantly occupy low-lying bonding states. For these states the e(g)-levels lie below the t(2g) ones, which demonstrates that at least in this case the influence of the p-d covalency on the total value of the crystal field splitting is stronger than the Coulomb interaction (which would lead to the opposite level order). We also show that the states in the conduction band are made predominantly of p-states of ligands (Cl), with a small admixture of d-states of Au., (© 2011 IOP Publishing Ltd)

In the present paper the results of fitting synchrotron diffraction data are obtained for the intermediate high-pressure phase (9.5 GPa) of the lead selenide based compound Pb(1-x)Sn(x)Se (x = 0.125)-an optoelectronic as well as a thermoelectric material-for two types of lattice symmetries Pnma (space group #62) and Cmcm (space group #63). Both lattice parameters and positions of atoms for the above mentioned structures have been used in calculations of the electron structure of high-pressure phases. The main difference between the electronic properties for Cmcm and Pnma structures established in electronic structure calculations is that in the first one the PbSe compound was found to be a metal, while in the second a small semiconductor gap (E(G) = 0.12 eV) was obtained. Moreover, the forces in the Cmcm structure are an order of magnitude larger than those calculated for the Pnma lattice. In the optimized, Pnma structure within a generalized gradient approximation (GGA), the band gap increases up to E(G) = 0.27 eV. The result coincides with the data on thermoelectric power and electrical resistance data pointing to a semiconductor gap of ∼0.2 eV at ∼9.5 GPa. Thus, the Pmna type of lattice seems to be a preferable version for the intermediate phase compared with the Cmcm one.

The results of the calculation of the electronic and magnetic properties for the spin-gapped material CuTe(2)O(5) are presented. The direct computation of exchange constants J in the framework of the LDA+U shows that the largest exchange coupling in CuTe(2)O(5) is found between fourth nearest neighbors, as was argued by Das et al (2008 Phys. Rev. 77 224437), and that this compound should be considered as the two-dimensional coupled dimer system.

The LDA+DMFT (local density approximation combined with dynamical mean-field theory) computation scheme has been used to calculate spectral properties of LaFeAsO-the parent compound of the new high-T(c) iron oxypnictides. The average Coulomb repulsion [Formula: see text] and Hund's exchange J parameters for iron 3d electrons were calculated using the first-principles constrained density functional theory scheme in the Wannier functions formalism. Resulting values strongly depend on the number of states taken into account in the calculations: when the full set of O-2p, As-4p and Fe-3d orbitals and the corresponding bands are included, the interaction parameters [Formula: see text] eV and J = 0.8 eV are obtained. In contrast, when the basis set is restricted to the Fe-3d orbitals and bands only, the calculation gives much smaller values of [Formula: see text] eV, J = 0.5 eV. Nevertheless, DMFT calculations with both parameter sets and the corresponding basis sets result in a weakly correlated electronic structure that is in agreement with the experimental x-ray and photoemission spectra.

Combining infrared reflectivity, transport, susceptibility, and several diffraction techniques, we find compelling evidence that CaCrO3 is a rare case of a metallic and antiferromagnetic transition-metal oxide with a three-dimensional electronic structure. Local spin density approximation calculations correctly describe the metallic behavior as well as the anisotropic magnetic ordering pattern of C type: The high Cr valence state induces via sizable pd hybridization remarkably strong next-nearest-neighbor interactions stabilizing this ordering. The subtle balance of magnetic interactions gives rise to magnetoelastic coupling, explaining pronounced structural anomalies observed at the magnetic ordering transition.

We found direct experimental evidence for an orbital switching in the V 3d states across the metal-insulator transition in VO2. We have used soft-x-ray absorption spectroscopy at the V L2,3 edges as a sensitive local probe and have determined quantitatively the orbital polarizations. These results strongly suggest that, in going from the metallic to the insulating state, the orbital occupation changes in a manner that charge fluctuations and effective bandwidths are reduced, that the system becomes more one dimensional and more susceptible to a Peierls-like transition, and that the required massive orbital switching can only be made if the system is close to a Mott insulating regime.

Utilizing a sum rule in a spin-resolved photoelectron spectroscopic experiment with circularly polarized light, we show that the orbital moment in LaTiO3 is strongly reduced from its ionic value, both below and above the Ne el temperature. Using Ti L2,3 x-ray absorption spectroscopy as a local probe, we found that the crystal-field splitting in the t2g subshell is about 0.12-0.30 eV. This large splitting does not facilitate the formation of an orbital liquid.