Related papers: Modulated, three-directional, and polar structural…
We report neutron powder diffraction measurements on a series of NaxCoO2 samples with x near 0.75 which were prepared under different synthesis conditions. Two different crystal structures for the samples are observed at room temperature.…
We use density functional theory (DFT) calculations to study the lattice vibrations and electronic properties of the correlated metal LaNiO$_3$. To characterize the rhombohedral to cubic structural phase transition of perovskite LaNiO$_3$,…
With the development of electronic structure theory, a new class of materials - quantum ones has been recognized by the community. Traditionally, it has been believed that the properties of such compounds cannot be described within the…
The ground-state structural and electronic properties of ferroelectric BiFeO$_3$ are calculated using density functional theory within the local spin-density approximation and the LSDA+U method. The crystal structure is computed to be…
Ba$_2$IrO$_4$ has been refined in the tetragonal $I4/mmm$ phase without octahedral rotations, and its physical properties have been interpreted in this high-symmetry structure. However, the dynamical stability of this undistorted phase has…
Strongly correlated ground states and exotic quasiparticle excitations in low-dimensional systems are central research topics in the solid state research community. The present work develops a new layered material and explores the physical…
We performed factor-group analysis of all phonons in possible monoclinic C2/c and C2 structures of BiMnO3 and compared it with our experimental infrared and Raman spectra. We conclude that the crystal structure is centrosymmetric C2/c in…
Vanadium dioxide (VO2) has drawn significant attention for its near room temperature insulator to metal transition and associated structural phase transition. The underlying Physics behind the temperature induced insulator to metal and…
We predict a quantum phase transition from normal to topological insulators in the 5$d$ transition metal oxide Na$_2$IrO$_3$, where the transition can be driven by the change of the long-range hopping and trigonal crystal field terms. From…
Soft phonon behavior associated with a structural phase transition from the low-temperature-orthorhombic (LTO) phase ($Bmab$ symmetry) to the low-temperature-tetragonal (LTT) phase ($P4_{2}/ncm$ symmetry) was investigated in…
The optical properties of quasi-one-dimensional metallic LaTiO$_{3.41}$ are studied for the polarization along the $a$ and $b$ axes. With decreasing temperature modes appear along both directions suggestive for a phase transition. The…
Honeycomb Na$_2$IrO$_3$ is a prototype spin-orbit Mott insulator and Kitaev magnet. We report a combined structural and electrical resistivity study of Na$_2$IrO$_3$ single crystals. Laue back-scattering diffraction indicates twinning with…
We investigate the electronic and structural changes at the nanoscale in vanadium dioxide (VO2) in the vicinity of its thermally driven phase transition. Both electronic and structural changes exhibit phase coexistence leading to…
We report a single crystal neutron and x-ray diffraction study of the hybrid improper multiferroic Ca3Mn1.9Ti0.1O7 (CMTO), a prototypical system where the electric polarization arises from the condensation of two lattice distortion…
The past decade's discovery of topological excitations in nanoscale ferroelectrics has turned the prevailing view that the polar ground state in these materials is uniform. However, the systematic understanding of the topological polar…
We study the electronic and magnetic structures of multiferroic CaMn$_7$O$_{12}$ by first-principle calculations, based on the experimentally determined modulated crystal structure. We confirm the presence of a 3$d$ orbital modulation of…
NaNiO$_2$ is a Ni$^{3+}$-containing layered material consisting of alternating triangular networks of Ni and Na cations, separated by octahedrally-coordinated O anions. At ambient pressure, it features a collinear Jahn--Teller distortion…
Ferroelectric switching in BiFeO$_3$ multiferroic thin films with intrinsic ``stripe-like'' and ``bubble-like'' polydomain configurations was studied by piezoresponse force microscopy. Using the local electric field applied by a scanning…
We present here the results of structural studies on multiferroic (1-x)Bi(Ni1/2Ti1/2)O3-xPbTiO3 solid solution using Rietveld analysis on powder x-ray diffraction data in the composition range 0.35 to 0.55. We have determined precisely the…
We present a DFT study utilizing the Hubbard U correction to probe structural and magnetic disorder in $\mathrm{NaO_{2}}$, primary discharge product of Na-O$_2$ batteries. We show that $\mathrm{NaO_{2}}$ exhibits a large degree of…