Dynamic signature of orbital selective Mott transition in the metallic phase of VO2

An orbital-selective technique, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, which could simultaneously probe the atomic structure and electronic properties, was employed to address the 'bad metal' behaviors, i.e., negligible electron thermal conductivity in the metallic phase of VO2. The measured electric field gradients at V sites by 51V NMR were found to evolve significantly in the pure metallic phase within the vicinity of structural phase transition temperatures, unexpected in a simple metal within this temperature region according to structural analysis by diffraction. This abnormal temperature-dependent local symmetry evolution can be well explained by a simple phenomenological model of orbital selective Mott transition in this multiorbital system