title: First-order isostructural Mott transition in highly compressed MnO.
abstract: We present evidence for an isostructural, first-order Mott transition in MnO at 105+/-5 GPa, based on high-resolution x-ray emission spectroscopy and angle-resolved x-ray diffraction data. The pressure-induced structural and spectral changes provide a coherent picture of MnO phase transitions from paramagnetic B1 to antiferromagnetic distorted B1 at 30 GPa, to paramagnetic B8 at 90 GPa, and to diamagnetic B8 at 105+/-5 GPa. The last is the Mott transition, accompanied by a significant loss of magnetic moment, an approximately 6.6% volume collapse and the insulator-metal transition as demonstrated by recent resistance measurements.
authors.affiliation: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA 94551, USA.
authors.forename: C S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Yoo
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Maddox
authors.forename: J-H P
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Klepeis
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Iota
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Evans
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: McMahan
authors.forename: M Y
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Chow
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Somayazulu
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Häusermann
authors.forename: R T
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Scalettar
authors.forename: W E
authors.initials: WE
authors.lastname: Pickett