Ultrasound velocity measurements of the orbitally-frustrated GeCo$_2$O$_4$ reveal unusual elastic instabilities due to the phonon-spin coupling within the antiferromagnetic phase. Shear moduli exhibit anomalies arising from the coupling to short-range ferromagnetic excitations. Diplike anomalies in the magnetic-field dependence of elastic moduli reveal magnetic-field-induced orbital order-order transitions. These results strongly suggest the presence of geometrical orbital frustration which causes novel orbital phenomena within the antiferromagnetic phase.
We describe powder and single-crystal inelastic neutron scattering experiments on a spinel-type antiferromagnet GeCo$_2$O$_4$, represented by an effective total angular momentum J_eff = 1/2. Several types of non-dispersive short-range magnetic excitations were discovered. The scattering intensity maps in $vec{Q}$ space are well reproduced by dynamical structure factor analyses using molecular model Hamiltonians. The results of analyses strongly suggest that the molecular excitations below T_N arise from a hidden molecular-singlet ground state, in which ferromagnetic subunits are antiferromagnetically coupled. The quasielastic excitations above T_N are interpreted as its precursor. A combination of frustration and J_eff = 1/2 might induce these quantum phenomena.
Ultrasound velocity measurements of the orbital-degenerate frustrated spinel MgV$_2$O$_4$ are performed in the high-purity single crystal which exhibits successive structural and antiferromagnetic phase transitions, and in the disorder-introduced single crystal which exhibits spin-glass-like behavior. The measurements reveal that two-types of unusual temperature dependence of the elastic moduli coexist in the cubic paramagnetic phase, which are resolved by magnetic-field and disorder sensitivities: huge Curie-type softening with decreasing temperature, and concave temperature dependence with a characteristic minimum. These elastic anomalies suggest the coupling of lattice to coexisting orbital fluctuations and orbital-spin-coupled excitations.
By means of synchrotron x-ray and electron diffraction, we studied the structural changes at the charge order transition $T_{CO}$=176 K in the mixed-valence quadruple perovskite (NaMn$_3$)Mn$_4$O$_{12}$. Below $T_{CO}$ we find satellite peaks indicating a commensurate structural modulation with the same propagation vector q =(1/2,0,-1/2) of the CE magnetic order that appears at low temperature, similarly to the case of simple perovskites like La$_{0.5}$Ca$_{0.5}$MnO$_3$. In the present case, the modulated structure together with the observation of a large entropy change at $T_{CO}$ gives evidence of a rare case of full Mn$^{3+}$/Mn$^{4+}$ charge and orbital order consistent with the Goodenough-Kanamori model.
A structural phase transition from cubic $Fdbar{3}m$ to tetragonal $I$4$_1$/$amd$ symmetry with $c/a >$ 1 is observed at $T_{rm{S}}$ = 16 K in spinel GeCo$_2$O$_4$ below the Neel temperature $T_N$ = 21 K. Structural and magnetic ordering appear to be decoupled with the structural distortion occurring at 16 K while magnetic order occurs at 21 K as determined by magnetic susceptibility and heat capacity measurements. An elongation of CoO$_6$ octahedra is observed in the tetragonal phase of GeCo$_2$O$_4$. We present the complete crystallographic description of GeCo$_2$O$_4$ in the tetragonal $I$4$_1$/$amd$ space group and discuss the possible origin of this distortion in the context of known structural transitions in magnetic spinels. GeCo$_2$O$_4$ exhibits magnetodielectric coupling below $T_{rm{N}}$. The related spinels GeFe$_2$O$_4$ and GeNi$_2$O$_4$ have also been examined for comparison. Structural transitions were not detected in either compound down to $T approx$ 8 K. Magnetometry experiments reveal in GeFe$_2$O$_4$ a second antiferromagnetic transition, with $T_{rm{N1}}$ = 7.9 K and $T_{rm{N2}}$ = 6.2 K, that was previously unknown, and that bear a similarity to the magnetism of GeNi$_2$O$_4$.
Mn$_3$O$_4$ is a spin frustrated magnet that adopts a tetragonally distorted spinel structure at ambient conditions and a CaMn$_2$O$_4$-type postspinel structure at high pressure. We conducted both optical measurements and emph{ab} emph{initio} calculations, and systematically studied the electronic band structures of both the spinel and postspinel Mn$_3$O$_4$ phases. For both phases, theoretical electronic structures are consistent with the optical absorption spectra, and display characteristic band-splitting of the conduction band. The band gap obtained from the absorption spectra is 1.91(6) eV for the spinel phase, and 0.94(2) eV for the postspinel phase. Both phases are charge-transfer type insulators. The Mn 3emph{d} $t_2$$_g$ and O 2emph{p} form antibonding orbitals situated at the conduction band with higher energy.