The subtle interplay among electronic degrees of freedom (charge and orbital orderings), spin and lattice distortion that conspire at the Verwey transition in magnetite (Fe3O4) is still a matter of controversy. Here, we provide compelling evidence that these electronic orderings are manifested as a continuous phase transition at the temperature where a spin reorientation takes place at around 130 K, i.e., well above TV approximately 121 K. The Verwey transition seems to leave the orbital ordering unaffected whereas the charge ordering development appears to be quenched at this temperature and the temperature dependence below TV is controlled by the lattice distortions. Finally, we show that the orbital ordering does not reach true long range (disorder), and the correlation length along the c-direction is limited to 100 angstroms.

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We propose a model for the Fe atomic displacements in the low-temperature phase of magnetite ͑Fe 3 O 4 ͒, based on the analysis of the photon energy dependence of the scattered intensity of selected reflections in a resonant x-ray scattering experiment. The symmetry of the displacement pattern is forced to be consistent with the Cc space group, long time claimed to be the actual symmetry of the low-temperature phase. Fe positions at octahedral sites and the corresponding charges are accounted for by a fitting procedure comparing simulations and experiment. We found a pattern of small distortions in the a-b plane. An independent sensitivity to the charge occupancy permits to refine the model of charge ordering previously proposed. Finally we have computed the electric moment of the combined charge displacements to be 1.5 C / cm 2 .

The Peierls phase transition in the quasi-one-dimensional conductor is investigated by means of elastic and inelastic neutron scattering. The effective critical exponent , extracted from the temperature dependence of the integrated intensity from the CDW satellite reflections, is anomalously low, suggesting that the phase transition may be of first order. The intensity distribution among symmetry-related satellite reflections indicates a domain structure with slowly fluctuating domain populations. Correlation lengths associated with the diverging `central peak' are determined and are found to be nearly isotropic, at variance with results obtained on other quasi-one-dimensional compounds, such as platinum chains (KCP) or blue bronze, . Doping with 1.2% Nb has a severe effect on the modulated state. The low-temperature satellites are replaced by a diffuse scattering distribution elongated along . The absence of a phonon soft mode and the presence of a diverging central peak at the phase transition is interpreted within the framework of strong electron-phonon coupling. Finally, we propose a Ginzburg-Landau phenomenological model, where the interplay between the electronically coupled optical-like order parameter (Ta-atom tetramerization along the chain axis) and the elastic deformations lies at the origin of the phase transition in .

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We report high-resolution neutron inelastic scattering experiments on the spin excitations of NaV(2)O(5). Below T(c), two branches with distinct energy gaps are identified. From the dispersion and intensity of the spin excitation modes, we deduce the precise zigzag charge distribution on the ladder rungs and the corresponding charge order: Delta(c) approximately 0.6. We argue that the spin gaps observed in the low-T phase of this compound are primarily due to the charge transfer.

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