Raman scattering and phase transitions of V2O3

Raman scattering in single crystals of V2O3 has been studied in the range from approx. 20 K to room temperature. Metal to insulator, crystallographic, and antiferromagnetic ordering transitions take place concurrently at T/sub t/ approx. 150 K. The observed spectra showed a drastic change at T/sub t/. On either side of T/sub t/, peaks were observed which had intensities rather insensitive to the variation of temperature. These peaks are indentifiable as phonon excitations, and the peaks of the two temperature regions can be correlated on the basis of the structural transition of the crystal. One peak was observed in the low-temperature region, the intensity of which decreased strongly with increasing temperature, becoming unobservable at T > or approx. = T/sub t/. Clearly, this peak involved the excitation of magnons which results from the magnetic transition