The Journal of the American Chemistry Society
The ultrafast formation of Jahn-Teller polarons is unraveled in spinel Co3O4 with microscopic detail. Selective charge-transfer excitation leads to a local symmetry breaking caused by the Jahn-Teller effect, which is associated with charge localization on the 3orbital at the Cobalt octahedral site, influencing deformation potential and magnetoelastic coupling of the system. This study offers an effective route towards local engineering of transition metal oxides’ electronic and structural properties with ultrafast light pulses.
