The magnetic origin of the metal-insulator transition in V2O3: Mott meets Slater

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that magnetism is the primary driver of the metal-insulator transition in V2O3, showing that an antiferromagnetic gap caused by magnetic correlations leads to the transition.

Contribution

It provides evidence that the MIT in V2O3 is driven by magnetic interactions, integrating the Mott and Slater mechanisms.

Findings

Magnetoresistance behavior indicates magnetic origin of MIT

Antiferromagnetic gap opens due to magnetic correlations

Magnetism dominates over structural factors in V2O3 transition

Abstract

Despite decades of experimental and theoretical efforts, the origin of metal-insulator transitions (MIT) in strongly-correlated materials is one of the main longstanding problems in condensed matter physics. An archetypal example is V2O3, where electronic, structural and magnetic phase transitions occur simultaneously. This remarkable concomitance makes the understanding of the origin of the MIT a challenge due to the many degrees of freedom at play. In this work, we demonstrate that magnetism plays the key dominant role. By acting on the magnetic degree of freedom, we reveal an anomalous behaviour of the magnetoresistance of V2O3, which provides strong evidence that the origin of the MIT in V2O3 is the opening of an antiferromagnetic gap in the presence of strong electronic correlations.