title: Direct observation of decoupled structural and electronic transitions and an ambient pressure monocliniclike metallic phase of VO2.
abstract: We report the simultaneous measurement of the structural and electronic components of the metal-insulator transition (MIT) of VO2 using electron and photoelectron spectroscopies and microscopies. We show that these evolve over different temperature scales, and are separated by an unusual monocliniclike metallic phase. Our results provide conclusive evidence that the new monocliniclike metallic phase, recently identified in high-pressure and nonequilibrium measurements, is accessible in the thermodynamic transition at ambient pressure, and we discuss the implications of these observations on the nature of the MIT in VO2.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Boston University, 590 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Laverock
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia 22904, USA.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kittiwatanakul
authors.affiliation: MAX-lab, Lund University, SE-221 00 Lund, Sweden.
authors.forename: A A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Zakharov
authors.affiliation: MAX-lab, Lund University, SE-221 00 Lund, Sweden.
authors.forename: Y R
authors.initials: YR
authors.lastname: Niu
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Boston University, 590 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia 22904, USA and Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia 22904, USA.
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Wolf
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia 22904, USA.
authors.forename: J W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Boston University, 590 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA and School of Chemical Sciences and MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology, University of Auckland, Auckland 1142, New Zealand.
authors.forename: K E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Smith