Microscopic Magnetic Origin of Rhombohedral Distortion in NiO

Numerous investigations have been conducted to explore the structural phase transition in antiferromagnetic 3d transition metal monoxides accompanied by appearance of magnetic phase transition. However, how the spins induce distortion in the high symmetric structure has not yet been fully understood. In this study, the monoxide Ni O is used as an example to investigate what lowers the structural symmetry. By comparing two different magnetic structures, our results reveal that the spin–lattice co...