Symmetry breaking in the metal-insulator transition of BaVS

Inami, Toshiya; Owada, Kenji; Kimura, Hiroyuki*; Watanabe, Masashi*; Noda, Yukio*; Nakamura, Hiroyuki*; Yamasaki, Tomoaki*; Shiga, Masayuki*; Ikeda, Naoshi*; Murakami, Yoichi

It has been believed for a long time that the metal-to-insulator (MI) transition of BaVS is not accompanied by any spatial order of spin and lattice. We have carried out x-ray diffraction measurements of BaVS single crystals using laboratory x-ray source as well as synchrotron radiation, and found that superlatiice reflections which double the lattice constant c exist below the transition temperature. The most porbable space group at the low-temperature insulator phase contains two in equivalent vanadium sites and thus a charge disproportionation of the vnadium ions is considered as the main cause of the MI transition.