Magnetic neutron scattering study of YVO3: Evidence for an orbital Peierls state

TL;DR

This study uses neutron scattering to investigate the magnetic and orbital structures of YVO3, providing evidence for an orbital Peierls state characterized by orbital singlet bonds, and offers a theoretical model to explain the observed phenomena.

Contribution

It presents experimental neutron scattering data and a theoretical analysis supporting the existence of an orbital Peierls state in YVO3, a novel many-body orbital configuration.

Findings

Identification of unusual magnetic structure in YVO3

Evidence supporting the orbital Peierls state hypothesis

Theoretical model explaining spin and orbital correlations

Abstract

Neutron spectroscopy has revealed a highly unusual magnetic structure and dynamics in YVO$_3$, an insulating pseudocubic perovskite that undergoes a series of temperature induced phase transitions between states with different spin and orbital ordering patterns. A good description of the neutron data is obtained by a theoretical analysis of the spin and orbital correlations of a realistic one-dimensional model. This leads to the tentative identification of one of the phases of YVO$_3$ with the ``orbital Peierls state'', a theoretically proposed many-body state comprised of orbital singlet bonds.