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Detailed Mapping Of The Local Ir⁴⁺ Dimers Through The Metal-Insulator Transitions Of Cuir₂S₄ Thiospinel By X-Ray Atomic Pair Distribution Function Measurements, Emil S. Bozin, Ahmad S. Masadeh, Yew San Hor, J. F. Mitchell, Simon J. Billinge

Physics Faculty Research & Creative Works

The evolution of the short-range structural signature of the Ir ⁴⁺ dimer state in CuIr₂S₄ thiospinel has been studied across the metal-insulator phase transitions as the metallic state is induced by temperature, Cr doping, and x-ray fluence. An atomic pair distribution function (PDF) approach reveals that there are no local dimers that survive into the metallic phase when this is invoked by temperature and doping. The PDF shows Ir⁴⁺ dimers when they exist, regardless of whether or not they are long-range ordered. At 100 K, exposure to a 98 keV x-ray beam melts the long-range dimer …