A Microscopic view on the Mott transition in Cr-doped V2O3

          
We have employed a combination of infrared spectroscopy, electron photoemission, and X-ray diffraction, to unveil phase separation at the metal to insulator transition in Cr-doped V2O3.


S. Lupi et al., Nat. Comm. 1, 105 (2010)



V2O3 is the prototype system for the Mott transition, one of the most fundamental phenomena of electronic correlation. Temperature, doping or pressure induce a metal-to-insulator transition (MIT) between a paramagnetic metal (PM) and a paramagnetic insulator. This or related MITs have a high technological potential, among others, for intelligent windows and field effect transistors. However the spatial scale on which such transitions develop is not known in spite of their importance for research and applications. Here we unveil for the first time the MIT in Cr-doped V2O3 with 
submicron lateral resolution: with decreasing temperature, microscopic domains become metallic and coexist with an insulating background. This explains why the associated PM phase is actually a poor metal.

Retrieve Article

A microscopic view on the Mott transition in chromium-doped V2O3;
S. Lupi, L. Baldassarre, B. Mansart, A. Perucchi, A. Barinov, P. Dudin, et al. 
Nature Communications 1, 105 (2010)
 

 

 

Last Updated on Thursday, 20 December 2012 15:03