Lattice distortion in the spin-orbital entangled state in R VO3 perovskites

Abstract

We report a thorough study of Y0.7La0.3VO3 single crystals by measuring magnetic properties, specific heat, thermal conductivity, Raman scattering, X-ray and neutron diffraction with the motivation of revealing the lattice response to the spin-orbital entanglement in RVO3. Upon cooling from room temperature, the orbitally disordered paramagnetic state changes around T∗∼220 K to a spin-orbital entangled state which is then followed by a transition at TN = 116 K to C-type orbital-ordered (OO) and G-type antiferromagnetic ordered (AF) ground state. In the temperature interval TN