Magnetic precursor to the structural phase transition in V\(_2\)O\(_3\)

The coupling between structural, electronic and magnetic degrees of freedom across the metal-insulator transition in V2O3 makes it hard to determine the main driving mechanism behind the transition. Specifically, the role of magnetism has been debated and its interplay with the other transitions has...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:arXiv.org 2024-10
Main Authors: Huang, Chubin, Rakshit, Abhishek, Janka, Gianluca, Zaher Salman, Suter, Andreas, Prokscha, Thomas, Frandsen, Benjamin A, Kalcheim, Yoav
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Antiferromagnetism
Degrees of freedom
Electron spin
Electron transitions
Insulators
Magnetic induction
Magnetic transitions
Metal-insulator transition
Muon spin relaxation
Muon spin rotation
Phase transitions
Structural stability
Temperature dependence
Thin films
Transition temperature
Vanadium oxides
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Summary:The coupling between structural, electronic and magnetic degrees of freedom across the metal-insulator transition in V2O3 makes it hard to determine the main driving mechanism behind the transition. Specifically, the role of magnetism has been debated and its interplay with the other transitions has not been established. To address this issue, we use a combination of muon spin relaxation/rotation, electrical transport and reciprocal space mapping which allows to correlate magnetic, electronic and structural degrees of freedom in strain-engineered V2O3 thin films. Evidence is found for a magnetic instability in the vicinity of the structural transition. This is manifested as a decrease in the antiferromagnetic moment with temperature leading to a virtual Néel transition temperature which coincides with that of the structural and electronic transitions. Moreover, we find evidence for an onset of antiferromagnetic (AF) fluctuations in the rhombohedral phase even without a structural transition to the monoclinic phase. The non-congruence of the structural and magnetic transitions increases as the transition temperature is reduced by strain. In samples where the transition is most strongly suppressed by strain, a depth-dependent magnetic state is observed. These results reveal the importance of an AF instability in the paramagnetic phase in triggering the metal-insulator transition and the crucial role of the structural transition in allowing for the formation of an ordered AF state.
ISSN:2331-8422