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Updated: Jul 9, 2026

Electron Spin Resonance Micro-imaging of Live Species for Oxygen Mapping
Published on: August 26, 2010
Mott transition in VO2 revealed by infrared spectroscopy and nano-imaging
M M Qazilbash1, M Brehm, Byung-Gyu Chae
1Physics Department, University of California-San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA. mumtaz@physics.ucsd.edu
Abstract:
Electrons in correlated insulators are prevented from conducting by Coulomb repulsion between them. When an insulator-to-metal transition is induced in a correlated insulator by doping or heating, the resulting conducting state can be radically different from that characterized by free electrons in conventional metals. We report on the electronic properties of a prototypical correlated insulator vanadium dioxide in which the metallic state can be induced by increasing temperature. Scanning near-field infrared microscopy allows us to directly image nanoscale metallic puddles that appear at the onset of the insulator-to-metal transition. In combination with far-field infrared spectroscopy, the data reveal the Mott transition with divergent quasi-particle mass in the metallic puddles. The experimental approach used sets the stage for investigations of charge dynamics on the nanoscale in other inhomogeneous correlated electron systems.
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