Type: Article
Publication Date: 2013-04-05
Citations: 12
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/428/1/012002
Cs3C60 is a correlated superconductor under pressure, but an insulator under ambient conditions. The mechanism causing this insulating behavior is the combination of Mott localization and the dynamic Jahn-Teller effect. We show evidence from infrared spectroscopy for the dynamic Jahn-Teller distortion. The continuous change with temperature of the splitting of infrared lines is typical Jahn-Teller behavior, reflecting the change in population of solid-state conformers. We conclude that the electronic and magnetic solid-state properties of the insulating state are controlled by molecular phenomena. We estimate the time scale of the dynamic Jahn-Teller effect to be above 10−11 s and the energy difference between the conformers less than 20 cm−1.