Observation of complex orbital order in MnV2O4

Abstract

Orbital ordering in vanadium spinel oxides with a geometrically frustrated pyrochlore structure has been a subject of controversy, owing to competing theoretical models and the absence of direct experimental evidence. Here we combine high-precision single-crystal synchrotron x-ray diffraction with core differential fourier synthesis to visualize the valence electron density (VED) of the orbital-ordered ground state in real space. By carefully investigating multiple-scattering artifacts, we identify the low-temperature structure as belonging to the I41/amd space group. The reconstructed VED around the V sites reveals an orbital-ordered state distinct from both previously proposed real- and complex-orbital models. Our results resolve the long-standing controversy in MnV2O4 and establish a route to identifying orbital states in frustrated spin-orbital systems.

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BibTeX RIS

BibTeX

@misc{koyama2026observation,
  title = {{Observation of complex orbital order in MnV2O4}},
  author = {Chihaya Koyama and Shunsuke Kitou and Taishun Manjo and Yuiga Nakamura and Takeshi Hara and Naoyuki Katayama and Takuro Katsufuji and Ryotaro Arita and Yusuke Nomura and Hiroshi Sawa and Taka-hisa Arima},
  howpublished = {arXiv},
  year = {2026},
  month = sep,
  doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2609.15060},
  eprint = {2609.15060},
  archivePrefix = {arXiv},
  url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.15060},
}

RIS

TY  - UNPB
TI  - Observation of complex orbital order in MnV2O4
AU  - Chihaya Koyama
AU  - Shunsuke Kitou
AU  - Taishun Manjo
AU  - Yuiga Nakamura
AU  - Takeshi Hara
AU  - Naoyuki Katayama
AU  - Takuro Katsufuji
AU  - Ryotaro Arita
AU  - Yusuke Nomura
AU  - Hiroshi Sawa
AU  - Taka-hisa Arima
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/14
PB  - arXiv
DO  - 10.48550/arxiv.2609.15060
UR  - https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.15060
AB  - Orbital ordering in vanadium spinel oxides with a geometrically frustrated pyrochlore structure has been a subject of controversy, owing to competing theoretical models and the absence of direct experimental evidence. Here we combine high-precision single-crystal synchrotron x-ray diffraction with core differential fourier synthesis to visualize the valence electron density (VED) of the orbital-ordered ground state in real space. By carefully investigating multiple-scattering artifacts, we identify the low-temperature structure as belonging to the I41/amd space group. The reconstructed VED around the V sites reveals an orbital-ordered state distinct from both previously proposed real- and complex-orbital models. Our results resolve the long-standing controversy in MnV2O4 and establish a route to identifying orbital states in frustrated spin-orbital systems.
ER  -

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