Spin-state transition in LaCoO 3: direct neutron spectroscopic evidence of excited magnetic states

A gradual spin-state transition occurs in LaCoO3 around T∼80-120 K, whose detailed nature remains controversial. We studied this transition by means of inelastic neutron scattering and found that with increasing temperature an excitation at ∼0.6 meV appears, whose intensity increases with temperatur...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Podlesnyak, Andrey (Author) , Haverkort, Maurits W. (Author)
Format: Article (Journal)
Language:English
Published: 15 December 2006
In: Physical review letters
Year: 2006, Volume: 97, Issue: 24, Pages: 247208
ISSN:1079-7114
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevLett.97.247208
Online Access:Verlag, Volltext: http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.97.247208
Verlag, Volltext: https://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.97.247208
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Author Notes:A. Podlesnyak, S. Streule, J. Mesot, M. Medarde, E. Pomjakushina, K. Conder, A. Tanaka, M.W. Haverkort, and D.I. Khomskii
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Summary:A gradual spin-state transition occurs in LaCoO3 around T∼80-120 K, whose detailed nature remains controversial. We studied this transition by means of inelastic neutron scattering and found that with increasing temperature an excitation at ∼0.6 meV appears, whose intensity increases with temperature, following the bulk magnetization. Within a model including crystal-field interaction and spin-orbit coupling, we interpret this excitation as originating from a transition between thermally excited states located about 120 K above the ground state. We further discuss the nature of the magnetic excited state in terms of intermediate-spin (t52ge1g, S=1) versus high-spin (t42ge2g, S=2) states. Since the g factor obtained from the field dependence of the inelastic neutron scattering is g∼3, the second interpretation is definitely favored.
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Physical Description:Online Resource
ISSN:1079-7114
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevLett.97.247208