Reuse & Permissions

It is not necessary to obtain permission to reuse this article or its components as it is available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI are maintained. Please note that some figures may have been included with permission from other third parties. It is your responsibility to obtain the proper permission from the rights holder directly for these figures.

Export citation

Export citation

Choose format for download:

Download Citation
  • Open Access

Revisiting Jahn-Teller transitions in correlated oxides with Monte Carlo modeling

Liam A. V. Nagle-Cocco1,*, Andrew L. Goodwin2, Clare P. Grey3, and Siân E. Dutton4

  • *Contact author: lnc@slac.stanford.edu

Phys. Rev. B 114, 134106 – Published 22 September, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/chbx-wzvl

Abstract

Jahn-Teller (JT) distortions are a key driver of physical properties in many correlated oxide materials. Cooperative JT distortions, in which long-range orbital order reduces the symmetry of the average structure, are common in JT-distorted materials at low temperatures. This long-range order will often melt on heating via a transition to a high-temperature state without long-range orbital order. The nature of this transition has been observed to vary with different materials depending on crystal structure; in LaMnO3, the transition has generally been interpreted as order-disorder, whereas in layered nickelates ANiO2 (A=Li,Na), there is a displacive transition. However, authors of recent theoretical work have suggested that previous evidence for order-disorder may in fact be a consequence of phonon anharmonicity rather than persistence of JT distortions. In this work, we run Monte Carlo simulations with a simple Hamiltonian that is modified to include terms dependent on the JT amplitude ρ, which is allowed to vary within the simulation. Our simulations yield distributions of JT amplitudes consistent with displacive rather than order-disorder behavior for both perovskites and layered nickelates. We also find significant differences between the transition observed for perovskites compared with layered nickelates, which we attribute to differing extensivity of configurational entropy on the two lattices, suggesting a crucial role for lattice geometry in determining behavior.

View figure in article

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Article Text

Supplemental Material

References (94)

  1. H. A. Jahn and E. Teller, Stability of polyatomic molecules in degenerate electronic states - I—Orbital degeneracy, Proc. R. Soc. A 161, 220 (1937).
  2. U. Öpik and M. H. L. Pryce, Studies of the Jahn-Teller effect. I. A survey of the static problem, Proc. R. Soc. A 238, 425 (1957).
  3. H. C. Longuet-Higgins, U. Öpik, M. H. L. Pryce, and R. A. Sack, Studies of the Jahn–Teller effect. II. The dynamical problem, Proc. R. Soc. A 244, 1 (1958).
  4. J. Kanamori, Crystal distortion in magnetic compounds, J. Appl. Phys. 31, S14 (1960).
  5. G. A. Gehring and K. A. Gehring, Co-operative Jahn-Teller effects, Rep. Prog. Phys. 38, 1 (1975).
  6. M. A. Halcrow, Jahn-Teller distortions in transition metal compounds, and their importance in functional molecular and inorganic materials, Chem. Soc. Rev. 42, 1784 (2013).
  7. J. B. Goodenough, Jahn-Teller phenomena in solids, Annu. Rev. Mater. Sci. 28, 1 (1998).
  8. J. H. Van Vleck, The Jahn-Teller effect and crystalline Stark splitting for clusters of the form XY6, J. Chem. Phys. 7, 72 (1939).
  9. L. A. V. Nagle-Cocco and S. E. Dutton, Van Vleck analysis of angularly distorted octahedra using VanVleckCalculator, J. Appl. Cryst. 57, 20 (2024).
  10. D. V. Fil, O. I. Tokar, A. L. Shelankov, and W. Weber, Lattice-mediated interaction of Cu2+ Jahn-Teller ions in insulating cuprates, Phys. Rev. B 45, 5633 (1992).
  11. H. Keller, A. Bussmann-Holder, and K. A. Müller, Jahn-Teller physics and high-Tc superconductivity, Mater. Today 11, 38 (2008).
  12. A. Bussmann-Holder and H. Keller, Superconductivity and the Jahn-Teller polaron, Condens. Matter 7, 10 (2022).
  13. D. I. Khomskii and S. V. Streltsov, Orbital effects in solids: Basics, recent progress, and opportunities, Chem. Rev. 121, 2992 (2021).
  14. H. Kim, G. Yoon, I. Park, K. Y. Park, B. Lee, J. Kim, Y. U. Park, S. K. Jung, H. D. Lim, D. Ahn, et al., Anomalous Jahn-Teller behavior in a manganese-based mixed-phosphate cathode for sodium ion batteries, Energy Environ. Sci. 8, 3325 (2015).
  15. X. Li, Y. Wang, D. Wu, L. Liu, S. H. Bo, and G. Ceder, Jahn-Teller assisted Na diffusion for high performance Na ion batteries, Chem. Mater. 28, 6575 (2016).
  16. J. U. Choi, J. Kim, J. Y. Hwang, J. H. Jo, Y. K. Sun, and S. T. Myung, K0.54[Co0.5Mn0.5]O2: New cathode with high power capability for potassium-ion batteries, Nano Energy 61, 284 (2019).
  17. J. S. Zhou, J. A. Alonso, J. T. Han, M. T. Fernández-Díaz, J. G. Cheng, and J. B. Goodenough, Jahn-Teller distortion in perovskite KCuF3 under high pressure, J. Fluorine Chem. 132, 1117 (2011).
  18. S. Margadonna and G. Karotsis, Cooperative Jahn-Teller distortion, phase transitions, and weak ferromagnetism in the KCrF3 perovskite, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 128, 16436 (2006).
  19. J. Rodríguez-Carvajal, M. Hennion, F. Moussa, L. Pinsard, and A. Revcolevschi, The Jahn-Teller structural transition in stoichiometric LaMnO3, Physica B 234-236, 848 (1997).
  20. R. Scatena, M. Andrzejewski, R. D. Johnson, and P. Macchi, Pressure-induced Jahn-Teller switch in the homoleptic hybrid perovskite [(CH3)2NH2]Cu(HCOO)3: Orbital reordering by unconventional degrees of freedom, J. Mater. Chem. C 9, 8051 (2021).
  21. Y. Ren, T. T. M. Palstra, D. I. Khomskii, E. Pellegrin, A. A. Nugroho, A. A. Menovsky, and G. A. Sawatzky, Temperature-induced magnetization reversal in a YVO3 single crystal, Nature (London) 396, 441 (1998).
  22. G. R. Blake, A. A. Nugroho, M. J. Gutmann, and T. T. M. Palstra, Competition between Jahn-Teller coupling and orbital fluctuations in HoVO3, Phys. Rev. B 79, 045101 (2009).
  23. G. R. Blake, T. T. M. Palstra, Y. Ren, A. A. Nugroho, and A. A. Menovsky, Transition between orbital orderings in YVO3, Phys. Rev. Lett. 87, 245501 (2001).
  24. G. R. Blake, T. T. M. Palstra, Y. Ren, A. A. Nugroho, and A. A. Menovsky, Neutron diffraction, x-ray diffraction, and specific heat studies of orbital ordering in YVO3, Phys. Rev. B 65, 174112 (2002).
  25. P. Bordet, C. Chaillout, M. Marezio, Q. Huang, A. Santoro, S. W. Cheong, H. Takagi, C. S. Oglesby, and B. Batlogg, Structural aspects of the crystallographic-magnetic transition in LaVO3 around 140 K, J. Solid State Chem. 106, 253 (1993).
  26. See Supplemental Material at http://link.aps.org/supplemental/10.1103/chbx-wzvl for additional discussion of literature-reported orbital orderings, further tests and analysis supporting the Monte Carlo simulations, and additional figures showing temperature-dependent behaviour of the JT amplitude ρ.
  27. F. Fauth, E. Suard, and V. Caignaert, Intermediate spin state of Co3+ and Co4+ ions in La0.5Ba0.5CoO3 evidenced by Jahn-Teller distortions, Phys. Rev. B 65, 060401 (2001).
  28. T. Nakajima, M. Ichihara, and Y. Ueda, New A-site ordered perovskite cobaltite LaBaCo2O6: Synthesis, structure, physical property and cation order-disorder effect, J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 74, 1572 (2005).
  29. L. D. Dyer, B. S. Borie, and G. P. Smith, Alkali metal-nickel oxides of the type MNiO2, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 76, 1499 (1954).
  30. S. Dick, M. Müller, F. Preissinger, and T. Zeiske, The structure of monoclinic NaNiO2 as determined by powder x-ray and neutron scattering, Powder Diffr. 12, 239 (1997).
  31. E. Chappel, M. D. Núñez-Regueiro, G. Chouteau, O. Isnard, and C. Darie, Study of the ferrodistorsive orbital ordering in NaNiO2 by neutron diffraction and submillimeter wave ESR, Eur. Phys. J. B 17, 615 (2000).
  32. M. Sofin and M. Jansen, New route of preparation and properties of NaNiO2, Z. Naturforsch. B 60, 701 (2005).
  33. L. A. V. Nagle-Cocco, C. L. Bull, C. J. Ridley, and S. E. Dutton, Pressure tuning the Jahn-Teller transition temperature in NaNiO2, Inorg. Chem. 61, 4312 (2022).
  34. L. A. V. Nagle-Cocco, A. R. Genreith-Schriever, J. M. A. Steele, C. Tacconis, J. D. Bocarsly, O. Mathon, J. C. Neuefeind, J. Liu, C. A. O’Keefe, A. L. Goodwin, et al., Displacive Jahn-Teller transition in NaNiO2, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 146, 29560 (2024).
  35. L. A. V. Nagle-Cocco, J. M. A. Steele, S. Deng, X. Zhang, D. Daisenberger, A. R. Genreith-Schriever, S. S. Saxena, C. P. Grey, and S. E. Dutton, Dome-like pressure-temperature phase diagram of the cooperative Jahn-Teller distortion in NaNiO2, J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 37, 205401 (2025).
  36. V. Bianchi, D. Caurant, N. Baffier, C. Belhomme, E. Chappel, G. Chouteau, S. Bach, J. P. Pereira-Ramos, A. Sulpice, and P. Wilmann, Synthesis, structural characterization and magnetic properties of quasistoichiometric LiNiO2, Solid State Ionics 140, 1 (2001).
  37. J. H. Chung, T. Proffen, S. Shamoto, A. M. Ghorayeb, L. Croguennec, W. Tian, B. C. Sales, R. Jin, D. Mandrus, and T. Egami, Local structure of LiNiO2 studied by neutron diffraction, Phys. Rev. B 71, 064410 (2005).
  38. L. Petit, G. M. Stocks, T. Egami, Z. Szotek, and W. M. Temmerman, Ground state valency and spin configuration of the Ni ions in nickelates, Phys. Rev. Lett. 97, 146405 (2006).
  39. G. S. Phillips, J. M. A. Steele, F. N. Sayed, L. Karger, L. A. V. Nagle-Cocco, A. R. Genreith-Schriever, G. E. Pérez, D. A. Keen, J. Janek, T. Brezesinski, et al., Collinear Jahn-Teller ordering induces monoclinic distortion in “defect-free” LiNiO2, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 147, 29042 (2025).
  40. W. Lin, Y. Ye, T. Chen, Y. Jiang, C. Ouyang, F. Pan, and J. Zheng, Defect-mediated Jahn-Teller effect in layered LiNiO2, Sci. China Mater. 65, 1696 (2022).
  41. A. R. Genreith-Schriever, A. Alexiu, G. S. Phillips, C. S. Coates, L. A. V. Nagle-Cocco, J. D. Bocarsly, F. N. Sayed, S. E. Dutton, and C. P. Grey, Jahn-Teller distortions and phase transitions in LiNiO2: Insights from ab initio molecular dynamics and variable-temperature x-ray diffraction, Chem. Mater. 36, 2289 (2024).
  42. A. Rougier, C. Delmas, and A. V. Chadwick, Non-cooperative Jahn-Teller effect in LiNiO2: An EXAFS study, Solid State Commun. 94, 123 (1995).
  43. H. Chen, C. L. Freeman, and J. H. Harding, Charge disproportionation and Jahn-Teller distortion in LiNiO2 and NaNiO2: A density functional theory study, Phys. Rev. B 84, 085108 (2011).
  44. K. Foyevtsova, I. Elfimov, J. Rottler, and G. A. Sawatzky, LiNiO2 as a high-entropy charge- and bond-disproportionated glass, Phys. Rev. B 100, 165104 (2019).
  45. A. D. Poletayev, R. J. Green, J. E. N. Swallow, L. An, L. Jones, G. Harris, P. Bencok, R. Sutarto, J. P. Cottom, B. J. Morgan, et al., Temperature-dependent dynamic disproportionation in LiNiO2, Nat. Commun. 16, 9379 (2025).
  46. R. J. Green, H. Wadati, T. Z. Regier, A. J. Achkar, C. McMahon, J. P. Clancy, H. A. Dabkowska, B. D. Gaulin, G. A. Sawatzky, and D. G. Hawthorn, Evidence for bond-disproportionation in LiNiO2 from x-ray absorption spectroscopy, arXiv:2011.06441.
  47. D. Takegami, K. Kawai, M. Ferreira-Carvalho, S. Rößler, C. E. Liu, C. Y. Kuo, C. F. Chang, A. Minamida, T. Miyazaki, M. Okubo, et al., Valence study of Li(Ni0.5Mn0.5)1−xCoxO2 and LiNi1−xCoxO2: The role of charge transfer and charge disproportionation, Phys. Rev. Mater. 8, 055401 (2024).
  48. E. Wawrzyńska, R. Coldea, E. M. Wheeler, I. I. Mazin, M. D. Johannes, T. Sörgel, M. Jansen, R. M. Ibberson, and P. G. Radaelli, Orbital degeneracy removed by charge order in triangular antiferromagnet AgNiO2, Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 157204 (2007).
  49. J.-S. Kang, S. S. Lee, G. Kim, H. J. Lee, H. K. Song, Y. J. Shin, S. W. Han, C. Hwang, M. C. Jung, H. J. Shin, et al., Valence and spin states in delafossite AgNiO2 and the frustrated Jahn-Teller system ANiO2 (A = Li, Na), Phys. Rev. B 76, 195122 (2007).
  50. J. L. García-Muñoz, J. Rodríguez-Carvajal, and P. Lacorre, Neutron-diffraction study of the magnetic ordering in the insulating regime of the perovskites RNiO3 (R = Pr and Nd), Phys. Rev. B 50, 978 (1994).
  51. T. Mizokawa, D. I. Khomskii, and G. A. Sawatzky, Spin and charge ordering in self-doped Mott insulators, Phys. Rev. B 61, 11263 (2000).
  52. J. L. Garcia-Munoz, M. A. G. Aranda, J. A. Alonso, and M. J. Martinez-Lope, Structure and charge order in the antiferromagnetic band-insulating phase of NdNiO3, Phys. Rev. B 79, 134432 (2009).
  53. H. Henke, Crystal structures, order-disorder transition and twinning of the Jahn–Teller system (NO)2VCl6, Z. Kristallogr. 218, 617 (2003).
  54. V. Baron, J. Gutzmer, H. Rundlöf, and R. Tellgren, The influence of iron substitution on the magnetic properties of hausmannite, Mn2+(Fe,Mn)23+O4, Am. Mineral. 83, 786 (1998).
  55. H. Yamaguchi, A. Yamada, and H. Uwe, Jahn-Teller transition of LiMn2O4 studied by x-ray-absorption spectroscopy, Phys. Rev. B 58, 8 (1998).
  56. R. Yokozaki, H. Kobayashi, T. Mandai, and I. Honma, Effect of Al substitution on structure and cathode performance of MgMn2O4 spinel for magnesium rechargeable battery, J. Alloys Compd. 872, 159723 (2021).
  57. P. Patra, I. Naik, H. Bhatt, and S. D. Kaushik, Structural, infrared spectroscopy and magnetic properties of spinel ZnMn2O4, Physica B 572, 199 (2019).
  58. P. F. Schofield, K. S. Knight, S. A. T. Redfern, and G. Cressey, Distortion characteristics across the structural phase transition in (Cu1−xZnx)WO4, Acta Cryst. B 53, 102 (1997).
  59. E. A. Harbourne, H. Barker, Q. Guéroult, J. Cattermull, L. A. V. Nagle-Cocco, N. Roth, J. S. O. Evans, D. A. Keen, and A. L. Goodwin, Local structure and dynamics in MPt(CN)6 Prussian blue analogues, Chem. Mater. 36, 5796 (2024).
  60. J. Cattermull, K. Sada, K. Hurlbutt, S. J. Cassidy, M. Pasta, and A. L. Goodwin, Uncovering the interplay of competing distortions in the Prussian blue analogue K2Cu[Fe(CN)6], Chem. Mater. 34, 5000 (2022).
  61. E. Herdtweck and D. Babel, Röntgenographische Einkristallstrukturbestimmungen an den Kalium-Kupfer(II)-Fluoriden K2CuF4 und K3Cu2F7, Z. Anorg. Allg. Chem. 474, 113 (1981).
  62. C. I. Hiley, C. A. Crawford, C. L. Bull, N. P. Funnell, U. Dey, N. C. Bristowe, R. I. Walton, and M. S. Senn, Pressure-induced orbital reordering in Na2CuF4, Phys. Rev. B 112, 035126 (2025).
  63. A. Nakua, H. Yun, J. N. Reimers, J. E. Greedan, and C. V. Stager, Crystal structure, short range and long range magnetic ordering in CuSb2O6, J. Solid State Chem. 91, 105 (1991).
  64. E. Granado, J. A. Sanjurjo, C. Rettori, J. J. Neumeier, and S. B. Oseroff, Order-disorder in the Jahn-Teller transition of LaMnO3: A Raman scattering study, Phys. Rev. B 62, 11304 (2000).
  65. T. Chatterji, F. Fauth, B. Ouladdiaf, P. Mandal, and B. Ghosh, Volume collapse in LaMnO3 caused by an orbital order-disorder transition, Phys. Rev. B 68, 052406 (2003).
  66. J.-S. Zhou and J. B. Goodenough, Orbital order-disorder transition in single-valent manganites, Phys. Rev. B 68, 144406 (2003).
  67. X. Qiu, Th. Proffen, J. F. Mitchell, and S. J. L. Billinge, Orbital correlations in the pseudocubic O and rhombohedral R phases of LaMnO3, Phys. Rev. Lett. 94, 177203 (2005).
  68. M. V. Kharlamova and A. Arulraj, Phase transition in nanostructured LaMnO3, JETP Lett. 89, 301 (2009).
  69. T. Chatterji, B. Ouladdiaf, P. Mandal, and B. Ghosh, Orbital order-disorder transition in La1−xBaxMnO3 in the low-doping region, Solid State Commun. 131, 75 (2004).
  70. R. A. Souza, N. M. Souza-Neto, A. Y. Ramos, H. C. N. Tolentino, and E. Granado, Local atomic and electronic structure in LaMnO3 across the orbital ordering transition, Phys. Rev. B 70, 214426 (2004).
  71. P. Mondal, D. Bhattacharya, and P. Mandal, Current-driven orbital order-disorder transition in LaMnO3, Phys. Rev. B 84, 075111 (2011).
  72. F. E. N. Ramirez, B. B. Cunha, W. A. Alves, R. F. Jardim, R. Muccillo, and J. A. Souza, Structural, electronic, and magnetic entropy contributions of the orbital order-disorder transition in LaMnO3, Phase Trans. 84, 284 (2011).
  73. P. M. M. Thygesen, C. A. Young, E. O. R. Beake, F. D. Romero, L. D. Connor, T. E. Proffen, A. E. Phillips, M. G. Tucker, M. A. Hayward, D. A. Keen, et al., Local structure study of the orbital order/disorder transition in LaMnO3, Phys. Rev. B 95, 174107 (2017).
  74. T. H. Tran, T. C. Bach, N. H. Pham, Q. H. Nguyen, C. D. Sai, H. N. Nguyen, V. T. Nguyen, T. T. Nguyen, K. H. Ho, and Q. K. Doan, Phase transition of LaMnO3 nanoparticles prepared by microwave assisted combustion method, Mater. Sci. Semicond. Process. 89, 121 (2019).
  75. M. Saint-Paul and P. Lejay, Soft-acoustic phonon mode at the Jahn-Teller transition in LaMnO3, Physica B 352, 353 (2004).
  76. B. R. M. Tragheim, E. A. Harbourne, C. Ritter, A. L. Goodwin, and M. S. Senn, Interplay between Jahn-Teller distortions and structural degrees of freedom in pseudocubic states in manganite perovskites, Phys. Rev. B 112, 115119 (2025).
  77. S. Margadonna and G. Karotsis, High temperature orbital order melting in KCrF3 perovskite, J. Mater. Chem. 17, 2013 (2007).
  78. L. G. Marshall, J. Zhou, J. Zhang, J. Han, S. C. Vogel, X. Yu, Y. Zhao, M. T. Fernández-Díaz, J. Cheng, and J. B. Goodenough, Unusual structural evolution in KCuF3 at high temperatures by neutron powder diffraction, Phys. Rev. B 87, 014109 (2013).
  79. M. Heinrich, H. A. Krug von Nidda, A. Krimmel, A. Loidl, R. M. Eremina, A. D. Ineev, B. I. Kochelaev, A. V. Prokofiev, and W. Assmus, Structural and magnetic properties of CuSb2O6 probed by ESR, Phys. Rev. B 67, 224418 (2003).
  80. S. Sicolo, M. Mock, M. Bianchini, and K. Albe, And yet it moves: LiNiO2, a dynamic Jahn-Teller system, Chem. Mater. 32, 10096 (2020).
  81. M. R. Ahmed and G. A. Gehring, The phase diagram of an an- isotropic Potts model, J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. 38, 4047 (2005).
  82. M. D. Radin, J. C. Thomas, and A. Van der Ven, Order-disorder versus displacive transitions in Jahn-Teller active layered materials, Phys. Rev. Mater. 4, 043601 (2020).
  83. Q. Jacquet, K. Kummer, M. Guignard, E. Grépin, S. Mariyappan, N. B. Brookes, and S. Lyonnard, Temperature-dependent resonant inelastic x-ray scattering at Ni L3-edge for NaNiO2 and LiNiO2, J. Phys. Chem. C 129, 17437 (2025).
  84. B. Batnaran, A. L. Goodwin, M. A. Hayward, and V. L. Deringer, The microscopic nature of orbital disorder in LaMnO3, arXiv:2510.25414.
  85. M. R. Ahmed and G. A. Gehring, Potts model for the distortion transition in LaMnO3, Phys. Rev. B 74, 014420 (2006).
  86. M. R. Ahmed and G. A. Gehring, Volume collapse in LaMnO3 studied using an anisotropic Potts model, Phys. Rev. B 79, 174106 (2009).
  87. Z. Chen, H. Zou, X. Zhu, J. Zou, and J. Cao, First-principle investigation of Jahn-Teller distortion and topological analysis of chemical bonds in LiNiO2, J. Solid State Chem. 184, 1784 (2011).
  88. G. L. Pascut and K. Haule, Role of orbital selectivity on crystal structures and electronic states in BiMnO3 and LaMnO3 perovskites, Phys. Rev. B 107, 045147 (2023).
  89. N. Metropolis, A. W. Rosenbluth, M. N. Rosenbluth, A. H. Teller, and E. Teller, Equation of state calculations by fast computing machines, J. Chem. Phys. 21, 1087 (1953).
  90. G. van Rossum, Python Tutorial, Tech. Rep. (Stichting Mathematisch Centrum, Amsterdam, 1995).
  91. A. Singh, A. Fry, A. Perelman, A. Tart, A. Ganesh, A. El-Kishky, A. McLaughlin, A. Low, A. J. Ostrow, A. Ananthram, et al., OpenAI GPT-5 system card, arXiv:2601.03267.
  92. J. D. Hunter, Matplotlib: A 2D graphics environment, Comput. Sci. Eng. 9, 90 (2007).
  93. K. Momma and F. Izumi, VESTA3 for three-dimensional visualization of crystal, volumetric and morphology data, J. Appl. Cryst. 44, 1272 (2011).
  94. L. Nagle-Cocco, C. Grey, A. Goodwin, and S. Dutton, Research data supporting “Revisiting Jahn–Teller transitions in correlated oxides with Monte Carlo modeling”, Apollo - University of Cambridge Repository, 2026, https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.131354.

Outline

Information

Sign In to Your Journals Account

Filter

Filter

Article Lookup

Enter a citation