2015/12/31 by Akihiko Ikeda, Toshihiro Nomura, Yasuhiro H. Matsuda +3 · 5 citations
Materials Science · Mathematics · Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Condensed Matter Physics #Condensed matter physics #Field (mathematics) #Magnetic and transport properties of perovskites and related materials #Magnetic field #Magnetization #Materials science #Mathematics #Phase (matter) #Phase diagram #Phase transition #Physics #Quantum mechanics #Rare-earth and actinide compounds #cond-mat.mtrl-sci #cond-mat.str-el
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevb.93.220401
published as Phys. Rev. B 93, 220401 (2016) · 5 pages, 2 figures
arxiv created 2016/06/01 · openalex publication_date 2016/06/06 · arxiv updated 2016/06/15 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
An additional degree of freedom in cobalt oxides that makes them fascinating is the spin state of the Co3+ ions, which possess six d-shall electrons and can form configurations with spins S=0, 1, or 2. In the prototypical member of the family, LaCoO3, the ground state is believed to be insulating with the spin state S=0. However, there has been a great deal of controversy over the last decades about the nature of the excited states and the phases observed at higher temperatures. The authors here approach this long-standing problem by applying ultrahigh magnetic fields reaching 133 Tesla at temperatures ranging from 2 to 120 K. Surprisingly, at magnetic fields above 100 T, they find two novel magnetic phases that are identified as spin-state crystalline states, possibly with some orbital ordering.