0000000000621455
AUTHOR
Victor Moshchalkov
Orbital dimerization in NaTiSi2O6: An orbital analogue of the spin-Peierls phase transition
We measure the Raman scattering spectra of NaTiSi2O6, analyze the vibrational properties, and study the origin of the phase transition in this compound. In this quasi-one-dimensional S = 1/2 system we observe anomalous high-temperature phonon broadenings, and large changes of the phonon energies and line-widths across the phase transition temperature of 210 K. These results, combined with theoretical considerations, indicate that the phonon anomalies originate from an orbital order-disorder type of phase transition. We find that the high temperature dynamical Jahn-Teller phase of NaTiSi2O6 exhibits a spontaneous breaking of translational symmetry into a dimerized, Jahn-Teller distorted, orb…
Orbital dimerization inNaTiSi2O6:An orbital analogue of the spin-Peierls phase transition
We measure the Raman scattering spectra of NaTiSi2O6, analyze the vibrational properties, and study the origin of the phase transition in this compound. In this quasi-one-dimensional S = 1/2 system we observe anomalous high-temperature phonon broadenings, and large changes of the phonon energies and line-widths across the phase transition temperature of 210 K. These results, combined with theoretical considerations, indicate that the phonon anomalies originate from an orbital order-disorder type of phase transition. We find that the high temperature dynamical Jahn-Teller phase of NaTiSi2O6 exhibits a spontaneous breaking of translational symmetry into a dimerized, Jahn-Teller distorted, orb…
Pulsed-field studies of the magnetization reversal in molecular nanomagnets
We report experimental studies of crystals of Mn12 molecular magnetic clusters in pulsed magnetic fields with sweep rates up to 4x10^3 T/s. The steps in the magnetization curve are observed at fields that are shifted with respect to the resonant field values. The shift systematically increases as the rate of the field sweep goes up. These data are consistent with the theory of the collective dipolar relaxation in molecular magnets.
Optical studies of gap, hopping energies, and the Anderson-Hubbard parameter in the zigzag-chain compoundSrCuO2
We have investigated the electronic structure of the zig-zag ladder (chain) compound ${\mathrm{SrCuO}}_{2}$ combining polarized optical absorption, reflection, photoreflectance, and pseudo-dielectric-function measurements with the model calculations. These measurements yield an energy gap of 1.42 eV (1.77 eV) at 300 K along (perpendicular to) the Cu-O chains. We have found that the lowest-energy gap, the correlation gap, is temperature independent. The electronic structure of this oxide is calculated using both the local-spin-density approximation with gradient correction method and the tight-binding theory for the correlated electrons. The calculated density of electronic states for noncor…