Structural precursor to the metal-insulator transition in V_2O_3

Abstract

The temperature dependence of the local structure of V_2O_3 in the vicinity of the metal to insulator transition (MIT) has been investigated using hard X-ray absorption spectroscopy. It is shown that the vanadium pair distance along the hexagonal c-axis changes abruptly at the MIT as expected. However, a continuous increase of the tilt of these pairs sets in already at higher temperatures and reaches its maximum value at the onset of the electronic and magnetic transition. These findings confirm recent theoretical results which claim that electron-lattice coupling is important for the MIT in V_2O_3. Our results suggest that interactions in the basal plane play a decisive role for the MIT and orbital degrees of freedom drive the MIT via changes in hybridization.

6 pages, 5 figures, 2 tables

References in corpus (7)

• Orbital selective insulator-metal transition in V2O3 under external pressure
• Dramatic Switching of Magnetic Exchange in a Classic Transition Metal Oxide: Evidence for Orbital Ordering
• Electronic Structure and Phase Transition in V2O3: Importance of 3d Spin-Orbit Interaction and Lattice Distortion
• Orbital Switching and the First-Order Insulator-Metal Transition in Paramagnetic V_2O_3
• Role of c-axis pairs in V2O3 from the band-structure point of view
• Surface acoustic wave investigations of the metal-to-insulator transition of V2O3 thin films on lithium niobate
• Evidence for short range orbital order in paramagnetic insulating (Al,V)_2O_3

Cited by in corpus (8)

• Electrodynamics of the vanadium oxides VO2 and V2O3
• A Novel High-Pressure Monoclinic Metallic Phase of V2O3
• Metal-Insulator Transition and Lattice Instability of Paramagnetic V2O3
• Electrical Breakdown in a V2O3 device at the Insulator to Metal Transition
• Ultrafast Electron-Lattice Coupling Dynamics in VO2 and V2O3 Thin Films
• Low-temperature magnetic ordering and structural distortions in Vanadium Sesquioxide (V${}_2$O${}_3$)
• Nanoscale self-organisation and metastable non-thermal metallicity in Mott insulators
• Uniform structural phase transition in V${}_2$O${}_3$ without short-range distortions of the local structure