Perovskite*

Perovskite cobaltites (La,Sr)CoO₃ have been intensively studied for their complicated magnetic properties, which arise from the multiple oxidation and spin states of cobalt. Even the end members, LaCoO₃ and SrCoO₃, exhibit great complexity. For example, both temperature and strain can induce spin transition in LaCoO₃, and the spin state of magnetic Co³⁺ has been a matter of debate. Recently, SrCoO₃ has attracted considerable attention. At ambient pressure, SrCoO₃ is a ferromagnetic metal (T_c ~ 305 K) crystalizing in cubic perovskite (Pm-3m symmetry) with lattice parameter a ~ 3.829 Å [1]. The magnetic Co⁴⁺ in SrCoO₃ has been suggested to be in the intermediate-spin (IS) state (S = 3/2). Also, experiments have shown that SrCoO₃ remains in Pm-3m symmetry under compression up to 60 GPa [2]. Using first-principles calculations, we investigate the magnetic and electronic states of cubic perovskite SrCoO₃ . Our calculations indicate that SrCoO₃ undergoes a magnetic and electronic transition induced by pressure.

[1] Y. Long et al., J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 23, 245601 (2011).
[2] J.-Y. Yang et al., Phys. Rev. B 92, 195147 (2015).