Charge-order pattern of the low-temperature phase from a monoclinic single domain of NaV2O5 uniquely determined by resonant x-ray scattering.

2005 
The present resonant x-ray scattering from each of monoclinically-split single domains of NaV2O5 has critically enhanced contrast between V4+ and V5+ ions strong enough to lead to unambiguous conclusion of the charge-order pattern of its low-temperature phase below Tc = 35 K. The zig-zag type charge-order patterns in the $ab$-plane previously confirmed have four kinds of configurations (A, A', B and B') and the stacking sequence along the c-axis is determined as the AAA'A' type by comparison with model calculations. By assigning the A and A' configurations to Ising spins, one can reasonably understand the previously discovered "devil's staircase"-type behavior with respect to the modulation of the layer-stacking sequences at high pressures and low temperatures, which very well resembles the global phase diagram theoretically predicted by the ANNNI model.
    • Correction
    • Source
    • Cite
    • Save
    • Machine Reading By IdeaReader
    0
    References
    21
    Citations
    NaN
    KQI
    []