This book describes all aspects of the physics of transition metal compounds, providing a comprehensive overview of this diverse class of solids. Set within a modern conceptual framework, this is an invaluable, up-to-date resource for graduate students, researchers and industrial practitioners in solid-state physics and chemistry, materials science, and inorganic chemistry.

With more than 40% new and revised materials, this second edition offers researchers and students in the field a comprehensive understanding of fundamental molecular properties amidst cutting-edge applications. Including ~70 Example-Boxes and summary notes, questions, exercises, problem sets, and illustrations in each chapter, this publication is also suitable for use as a textbook for advanced undergraduate and graduate students. Novel material is introduced in description of multi-orbital chemical bonding, spectroscopic and magnetic properties, methods of electronic structure calculation, and quantum-classical modeling for organometallic and metallobiochemical systems. This is an excellent reference for chemists, researchers and teachers, and advanced undergraduate and graduate students in inorganic, coordination, and organometallic chemistry.

With contributions by numerous experts

There exists a large literature on the spectroscopic properties of copper(II) com- 9 pounds. This is due to the simplicity of the d electron configuration, the wide variety of stereochemistries that copper(II) compounds can adopt, and the f- xional geometric behavior that they sometimes exhibit [1]. The electronic and geometric properties of a molecule are inexorably linked and this is especially true with six-coordinate copper(II) compounds which are subject to a Jahn-T- ler effect.However,the spectral-structural correlations that are sometimes d- wn must often be viewed with caution as the information contained in a typical solution UV-Vis absorption spectrum of a copper(II) compound is limited. Meaningful spectral-structural correlations can be obtained in a related series of compounds where detailed spectroscopic data is available. In the fol- 4– lowing sections two such series are examined; the six-coordinate CuF and 6 2+ Cu(H O) ions doped as impurities in single crystal hosts.Using low tempera- 2 6 ture polarized optical spectroscopy and electron paramagnetic resonance, a very detailed picture can be drawn about the geometry of these ions in both their ground and excited electronic states. We then compare the spectrosco- cally determined structural data with that obtained from X-ray diffraction or EXAFS measurements.

In the last two decades low-dimensional (low-d) physics has matured into a major branch of science. Quite generally we may define a system with restricted dimensionality d as an object that is infinite only in one or two spatial directions (d = 1 and 2). Such a definition comprises isolated single chains or layers, but also fibres and thin layers (films) of varying but finite thickness. Clearly, a multitude of physical phenomena, notably in solid state physics, fall into these categories. As examples, we may mention: • Magnetic chains or layers (thin-film technology). • Metallic films (homogeneous or heterogeneous, crystalline, amorphous or microcristalline, etc.). • I-d or 2-d conductors and superconductors. • Intercalated systems. • 2-d electron gases (electrons on helium, semiconductor interfaces). • Surface layer problems (2-d melting of monolayers of noble gases on a substrate, surface problems in general). • Superfluid films of ~He or 'He. • Polymer physics. • Organic and inorganic chain conductors, superionic conductors. • I-d or 2-d molecular crystals and liquid crystals. • I-d or 2-d ferro- and antiferro electrics.

The structural phase transition is one of the most fundamental problems in solid state physics. Layered transition-metal dichalcogenides provide us with a most exciting area for the study of structural phase transitions that are associated with the charge density wave (CDW). A large variety of structural phase transitions, such as commensurate and incommensurate transitions, and the physical proper ties related to the formation of a CDW, have been an object of intense study made for many years by methods employing modem microscopic techniques. Rather recently, efforts have been devoted to the theoretical understanding of these experimental results. Thus, McMillan, for example, has developed an elegant phenomenological theory on the basis of the Landau free energy expansion. An extension of McMillan's theory has provided a successful understanding of the successive phase transitions observed in the IT- and 2H-compounds. In addition, a microscopic theory of lattice instability, lattice dynamics, and lattice distortion in the CDW state of the transition-metal dichalcogenides has been developed based on their electronic structures. As a result, the driving force of the CDW formation in the IT- and 2H-compounds has become clear. Furthermore, the effect of lattice fluctuations on the CDW transition and on the anomalous behavior of various physical properties has been made clear microscopically.

Electron paramagnetic resonance (epr) spectroscopy is a sensitive and versatile method of studying paramagnets, which is finding increasing use in chemistry, biochemistry, earth and materials sciences. The technique is treated both qualitatively and quantitatively, with a progressive increase in sophistication in each succeeding chapter. Following a general introductory chapter, the first half of the book deals with single unpaired electron systems and considers both metal and ligand Zeeman, hyperfine and quadrupole interactions. The simulation of these spectra is discussed, followed by the relationship between spin-Hamiltonian parameters and models of the electronic structures of paramagnets. The second half of the book treats multiple unpaired electron systems using the same philosophy. An introduction to the epr properties of cluster compounds and of extended exchanging systems is also given. There is a chapter on linewidths and lineshapes, and an extensive appendix containing much additional information. A wide-ranging library of simulated and experimental spectra is given, as well as graphical data which should aid spectrum interpretation. Each chapter contains key references and there is a substantial subject and keyword index. This book is designed to teach epr spectroscopy to students without any previous knowledge of the technique. However, it will also be extremely useful to researchers dealing with paramagnetic d transition metals.