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Updated: Jan 2, 2026

Picometer-Precision Atomic Position Tracking through Electron Microscopy
Published on: July 3, 2021
Origin of Ising magnetism in Ca3Co2O6 unveiled by orbital imaging
Brett Leedahl1, Martin Sundermann1,2, Andrea Amorese1,2
1Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids, Nöthnitzer Straße 40, 01187, Dresden, Germany.
Abstract:
The one-dimensional cobaltate Ca[Formula: see text]Co[Formula: see text]O[Formula: see text] is an intriguing material having an unconventional magnetic structure, displaying quantum tunneling phenomena in its magnetization. Using a newly developed experimental method, [Formula: see text]-core-level non-resonant inelastic x-ray scattering ([Formula: see text]-NIXS), we were able to image the atomic Co [Formula: see text] orbital that is responsible for the Ising magnetism in this system. We can directly observe that corrections to the commonly accepted ideal prismatic trigonal crystal field scheme occur in Ca[Formula: see text]Co[Formula: see text]O[Formula: see text], and it is the complex [Formula: see text] orbital occupied by the sixth electron at the high-spin Co[Formula: see text] ([Formula: see text]) sites that generates the Ising-like behavior. The ability to directly relate the orbital occupation with the local crystal structure is essential to model the magnetic properties of this system.
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