Nanoscale ice-type structural fluctuation in spinel titanates

Torigoe, Shuhei*; Hattori, Takayuki*; Kodama, Katsuaki   ; Honda, Takashi*; Sagayama, Hajime*; Ikeda, Kazutaka*; Otomo, Toshiya*; Nitani, Hiroaki*; Abe, Hitoshi*; Murakawa, Hiroshi*; Sakai, Hideaki*; Hanasaki, Noriaki*

In the spinel titanate MgTiO, the tetragonal phase collapses upon substitution of a tiny amount of Mg ion at the Ti site, and the cubic phase with the geometrical frustration is resurrected. The atomic pair distribution function (PDF) and the extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) reveal the nanoscale structural fluctuation, in which the Ti atomic displacement has the two-in two-out configuration in the cubic phase. We argue that the geometrical frustration plays an essential role in the collapse of the tetragonal phase and the resultant nanoscale ice-type structural fluctuation.