Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 21 April 2000:
Vol. 288. no. 5465, pp. 462 - 468
DOI: 10.1126/science.288.5465.462
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Review

Orbital Physics in Transition-Metal Oxides

Y. Tokura, 12 N. Nagaosa 1

An electron in a solid, that is, bound to or nearly localized on the specific atomic site, has three attributes: charge, spin, and orbital. The orbital represents the shape of the electron cloud in solid. In transition-metal oxides with anisotropic-shaped d-orbital electrons, the Coulomb interaction between the electrons (strong electron correlation effect) is of importance for understanding their metal-insulator transitions and properties such as high-temperature superconductivity and colossal magnetoresistance. The orbital degree of freedom occasionally plays an important role in these phenomena, and its correlation and/or order-disorder transition causes a variety of phenomena through strong coupling with charge, spin, and lattice dynamics. An overview is given here on this "orbital physics," which will be a key concept for the science and technology of correlated electrons.

1 Department of Applied Physics, University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan.
2 Joint Research Center for Atom Technology, Tsukuba 305-0046, Japan.

Read the Full Text


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Orbital Reconstruction and Covalent Bonding at an Oxide Interface.
J. Chakhalian, J. W. Freeland, H.-U. Habermeier, G. Cristiani, G. Khaliullin, M. van Veenendaal, and B. Keimer (2007)
Science 318, 1114-1117
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Complexity in Strongly Correlated Electronic Systems.
E. Dagotto (2005)
Science 309, 257-262
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Orbital Ordering Transition in La4Ru2O10.
P. Khalifah, R. Osborn, Q. Huang, H. W. Zandbergen, R. Jin, Y. Liu, D. Mandrus, and R. J. Cava (2002)
Science 297, 2237-2240
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Advances in the Physics of High-Temperature Superconductivity.
J. Orenstein and A. J. Millis (2000)
Science 288, 468-474
   Abstract »    Full Text »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)