Abstract:
Transition metal oxides constitute one of the most important classes of solids, exhibiting a wide
range of structures and fascinating properties originating from a strong coupling among spin,
orbital, charge and lattice degrees of freedom. Here, we discuss the intriguing aspects of strong
electron correlation effect and orbital degrees of freedom in transition metal oxides. The strong
interactions among valence electrons lead to localization of electrons in the d-orbital, while the
orbital degree of freedom gives rise to anisotropy in the electronic interactions. A description
has been given of the magnetic exchange interaction and anisotropy which is essential to
understand the magnetic properties of various oxides. The cross coupling between magnetism
and electricity known as the magnetoelectric effect is another important property exhibited by
transition metal oxides which has been explored. In addition, a brief discussion on the
diffraction techniques essential to study the variety of crystal and magnetic structures are
presented. Finally, we discuss the experimental techniques employed to study the magnetic and
dielectric properties of various oxides.
