Magnetic Moment Collapse-Driven Mott Transition in MnO

Collapse of magnetic moment drives the Mott transition in MnO.

The metal-insulator transition in correlated electron systems, where electron states transform from itinerant to localized, has been one of the central themes of condensed-matter physics for more than half a century. The persistence of this question has been a consequence both of the intricacy of the fundamental issues and the growing recognition of the complexities that arise in real materials...

First-order isostructural Mott transition in highly compressed MnO.

We present evidence for an isostructural, first-order Mott transition in MnO at 105+/-5 GPa, based on high-resolution x-ray emission spectroscopy and angle-resolved x-ray diffraction data. The pressure-induced structural and spectral changes provide a coherent picture of MnO phase transitions from paramagnetic B1 to antiferromagnetic distorted B1 at 30 GPa, to paramagnetic B8 at 90 GPa, and to ...

Supplementary Information: Magnetic-Collapse Driven Mott Transition in MnO

Pressure-driven magnetic moment collapse in the ground state of MnO

The zero temperature Mott transition region in antiferromagnetic, spin S = 52 MnO is probed using the correlated band theory LSDA + U method. The first transition encountered is an insulator–insulator volume collapse within the rocksalt structure that is characterized by an unexpected Hund’s rule violating ‘spin-flip’ moment collapse. This spin-flip to S = 12 takes fullest advantage of the anis...

Observation of a Structurally-Driven Mott Transition

We report a first-order structurally-driven Mott transition a t T=357 K in single crystal Ca2RuO4, an isomorph to the superconductor Sr2RuO4. A discontinuous jump in electrical resistivity with a concomitant change in magnetic moment is triggered by a pronounced structural transition from a high temperature tetragonal phase to a low temperature orthorhombic phase. We argue that t h e elastic en...