Orbital-spin order and the origin of structural distortion in MgTi${}_2$O${}_4$

Abstract

We analyze electronic, magnetic, and structural properties of the spinel compound MgTi${}_2$O${}_4$ using the local density approximation+U method. We show how MgTi${}_2$O${}_4$ undergoes to a canted orbital-spin ordered state, where charge, spin and orbital degrees of freedom are frozen in a geometrically frustrated network by electron interactions. In our picture orbital order stabilize the magnetic ground state and controls the degree of structural distortions. The latter is dynamically derived from the cubic structure in the correlated LDA+U potential. Our ground-state theory provides a consistent picture for the dimerized phase of MgTi${}_2$O${}_4$, and might be applicable to frustrated materials in general.

6 pages, 6 figures

References in corpus (4)

• Valence bond crystal in a pyrochlore antiferromagnet with orbital degeneracy
• Valence-Bond Crystal, and Lattice Distortions in a Pyrochlore Antiferromagnet with Orbital Degeneracy
• Optical study of MgTi${}_2$O${}_4$: Evidence for an orbital-Peierls state
• The ground state phases of orbitally degenerate spinel oxides