Ferro-type orbital state in the Mott transition system Ca2-xSrxRuO4 studied by the resonant x-ray scattering interference technique

Phys Rev Lett. 2005 Jul 8;95(2):026401. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.95.026401. Epub 2005 Jul 5.

Abstract

We have succeeded in detecting ferro-type orbital states in Ca2-xSrxRuO4, which is the first outcome in a 4d Mott transition system by the resonant x-ray scattering interference technique. For x=0 (Mott insulator), the resonant signal for d(xy) orbital ordering is observed even at room temperature, in which the Jahn-Teller distortion is negligible. The signal disappears near the metal-insulator transition. On the other hand, in a metallic phase for x=0.5, orbital polarization with d(yz/zx) character dominates. With lowering temperature, the magnitude of the resonant signal slightly decreases owing to the additional influence of the gamma band with d(xy) character.