The Neutral–Ionic Phase Transition
A special issue of Crystals (ISSN 2073-4352).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 August 2017) | Viewed by 35450
Special Issue Editors
Interests: molecular functional materials; organic dyes and aggregates; linear and non-linear optical spectroscopy; charge-transfer crystals; electron and energy transfer; multistability and phase transitions
Interests: spectral properties crystalline materials; molecular crystals; phase transitions in organic solids; organic semiconductors; organic superconductors; thin films
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The neutral–ionic phase transition was discovered in mixed-stack charge-transfer crystals almost 40 years ago. The transition, induced by temperature, pressure or light, involves two interrelated instabilities: (a) the crossover between a band-insulator (the neutral phase) and a Mott-insulator (the ionic phase), through a marginally metallic state; and (b) the lattice dimerization induced by a pure-Peierls mechanism close to the neutral–ionic interface and by a spin-Peierls mechanism far in the ionic regime. The subtle interplay between strongly correlated electrons and phonons in reduced dimensions drives the appearance of multiple competing phases, divergent responses, collective phenomena, ferroelectricity, multiferroicity, anomalous metallic states, etc., making the neutral–ionic phase transition and related materials an interesting playground for theoretical and experimental investigations.
The Special Issue will provide an international forum to cover a broad description of theoretical and experimental studies on the phenomenology of the transition, its mechanism and the properties of related materials. Scientists working in a wide range of disciplines are invited to contribute with original papers or short reviews on their activity in the field. The topics summarized under the keywords broadly cover the greater number of relevant sub-topics.
Prof. Dr. Anna Painelli
Guest Editor
Prof. Dr. Alberto Girlando
Co-Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- Valence and structural instabilities in charge-transfer crystals
- Correlated electrons and electron–phonon coupling
- Photoinduced phase transitions, multistability and domain-walls
- Organic ferroelectric and multiferroics
- Collective electron-transfer and excitations