Published in

Nature Research, Nature Communications, 1(7), 2016

DOI: 10.1038/ncomms10563

Links

Tools

Export citation

Search in Google Scholar

Electron-lattice interactions strongly renormalize the charge transfer energy in the spin-chain cuprate Li$_2$CuO$_2$

Journal article published in 2015 by Jiři M. Álek, Steve Johnston ORCID, Claude Monney ORCID, Valentina Bisogni, Ke-Jin Zhou, Roberto Kraus, Günter Behr, Vladimir N. Strocov, Jiři Málek, Stefan-Ludwig Drechsler, Jochen Geck, Thorsten Schmitt, Jeroen van den Brink
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.

Full text: Download

Green circle
Preprint: archiving allowed
Upload
Red circle
Postprint: archiving forbidden
Green circle
Published version: archiving allowed
Upload
Policy details
Data provided by SHERPA/RoMEO

Abstract

AbstractStrongly correlated insulators are broadly divided into two classes: Mott–Hubbard insulators, where the insulating gap is driven by the Coulomb repulsion U on the transition-metal cation, and charge-transfer insulators, where the gap is driven by the charge-transfer energy Δ between the cation and the ligand anions. The relative magnitudes of U and Δ determine which class a material belongs to, and subsequently the nature of its low-energy excitations. These energy scales are typically understood through the local chemistry of the active ions. Here we show that the situation is more complex in the low-dimensional charge-transfer insulator Li2CuO2, where Δ has a large non-electronic component. Combining resonant inelastic X-ray scattering with detailed modelling, we determine how the elementary lattice, charge, spin and orbital excitations are entangled in this material. This results in a large lattice-driven renormalization of Δ, which significantly reshapes the fundamental electronic properties of Li2CuO2.