Survival of the metallic state in a single-hole multiband p-orbital molecular system

Keisuke Matsui; Ryan A. Klein; Naoya Yoshikane; John Arvanitidis; Matjaž Gomilšek; Urh Klopčič; Shogo Kawaguchi; Hitoshi Yamaoka; Nozomu Hiraoka; Hirofumi Ishii; Qiang Zhang; Shigeo Mori; Hiroki Ishibashi; Yoshiki Kubota; Craig M. Brown; Denis Arčon; Kosmas Prassides

doi:10.1038/s41467-026-73095-z

Survival of the metallic state in a single-hole multiband p-orbital molecular system

Keisuke Matsui
, Ryan A. Klein
, Naoya Yoshikane
, John Arvanitidis
, Matjaž Gomilšek
, Urh Klopčič
, Shogo Kawaguchi
, Hitoshi Yamaoka
, Nozomu Hiraoka
, Hirofumi Ishii
, Qiang Zhang
, Shigeo Mori
, Hiroki Ishibashi
, Yoshiki Kubota
, Craig M. Brown
, Denis Arčon
, Kosmas Prassides

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Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Strong correlations and ferromagnetic Hund’s coupling lead to diverse electronic phenomena in transition-metal oxides that sensitively depend on the d-orbital electron filling. Fullerides, their p-electron counterparts, exhibit effective antiferromagnetic Hund’s coupling in a different energy range. At half-filling (n = 3, three electrons in triply degenerate orbitals), both d- and p-electron systems are Mott insulators due to strong correlations and Hund’s coupling. Away from half-filling, in single-electron/hole (n = 1,5) d-orbital systems, Hund’s coupling opposes the correlations, reducing the Mott gap and allowing survival of metallicity. Here we report a single-hole multiorbital correlated p-electron system, orthorhombic-structured Yb₂CsC₆₀ comprising pentavalent C₆₀⁵⁻ anions, which also exhibits a robust metallic state with no Mott transition, just like in the metastable single-electron cubic-structured CsC₆₀. We assert that particle−hole symmetry holds well in (n = 1,5) fullerides and that their p-electron-derived states are analogous to those in d-orbital solids, providing impetus for further study of these correlated systems.

Original language	English
Article number	4599
Journal	Nature Communications
Volume	17
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-73095-z
State	Published - Dec 2026

Funding

K.P. discloses support for the research of this work from JSPS KAKENHI Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (grant numbers JP21H01907, JP22K18693, and JP23KJ1843), N.Y. from JST SPRING (grant number JPMJSP2138), K.M. from JST SPRING (grant number JPMJSP2139), A.D. from the Slovenian Research Agency (grant numbers P1-0125, J1-3007, and J1-70050), and M.G. from the Slovenian Research Agency (grant numbers J1-50012 and N1-0356). C.M.B. discloses full support and R.A.K. partial support for the research of this work from NIST.

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10.1038/s41467-026-73095-z

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Matsui, K., Klein, R. A., Yoshikane, N., Arvanitidis, J., Gomilšek, M., Klopčič, U., Kawaguchi, S., Yamaoka, H., Hiraoka, N., Ishii, H., Zhang, Q., Mori, S., Ishibashi, H., Kubota, Y., Brown, C. M., Arčon, D., & Prassides, K. (2026). Survival of the metallic state in a single-hole multiband p-orbital molecular system. Nature Communications , 17(1), Article 4599. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-73095-z

@article{dcf7e14a3c2f4f2c91ced43a63773165,

title = "Survival of the metallic state in a single-hole multiband p-orbital molecular system",

abstract = "Strong correlations and ferromagnetic Hund{\textquoteright}s coupling lead to diverse electronic phenomena in transition-metal oxides that sensitively depend on the d-orbital electron filling. Fullerides, their p-electron counterparts, exhibit effective antiferromagnetic Hund{\textquoteright}s coupling in a different energy range. At half-filling (n = 3, three electrons in triply degenerate orbitals), both d- and p-electron systems are Mott insulators due to strong correlations and Hund{\textquoteright}s coupling. Away from half-filling, in single-electron/hole (n = 1,5) d-orbital systems, Hund{\textquoteright}s coupling opposes the correlations, reducing the Mott gap and allowing survival of metallicity. Here we report a single-hole multiorbital correlated p-electron system, orthorhombic-structured Yb2CsC60 comprising pentavalent C605− anions, which also exhibits a robust metallic state with no Mott transition, just like in the metastable single-electron cubic-structured CsC60. We assert that particle−hole symmetry holds well in (n = 1,5) fullerides and that their p-electron-derived states are analogous to those in d-orbital solids, providing impetus for further study of these correlated systems.",

author = "Keisuke Matsui and Klein, \{Ryan A.\} and Naoya Yoshikane and John Arvanitidis and Matja{\v z} Gomil{\v s}ek and Urh Klop{\v c}i{\v c} and Shogo Kawaguchi and Hitoshi Yamaoka and Nozomu Hiraoka and Hirofumi Ishii and Qiang Zhang and Shigeo Mori and Hiroki Ishibashi and Yoshiki Kubota and Brown, \{Craig M.\} and Denis Ar{\v c}on and Kosmas Prassides",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} The Author(s) 2026.",

year = "2026",

month = dec,

doi = "10.1038/s41467-026-73095-z",

language = "English",

volume = "17",

journal = "Nature Communications ",

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Matsui, K, Klein, RA, Yoshikane, N, Arvanitidis, J, Gomilšek, M, Klopčič, U, Kawaguchi, S, Yamaoka, H, Hiraoka, N, Ishii, H, Zhang, Q, Mori, S, Ishibashi, H, Kubota, Y, Brown, CM, Arčon, D & Prassides, K 2026, 'Survival of the metallic state in a single-hole multiband p-orbital molecular system', Nature Communications , vol. 17, no. 1, 4599. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-73095-z

TY - JOUR

T1 - Survival of the metallic state in a single-hole multiband p-orbital molecular system

AU - Matsui, Keisuke

AU - Klein, Ryan A.

AU - Yoshikane, Naoya

AU - Arvanitidis, John

AU - Gomilšek, Matjaž

AU - Klopčič, Urh

AU - Kawaguchi, Shogo

AU - Yamaoka, Hitoshi

AU - Hiraoka, Nozomu

AU - Ishii, Hirofumi

AU - Zhang, Qiang

AU - Mori, Shigeo

AU - Ishibashi, Hiroki

AU - Kubota, Yoshiki

AU - Brown, Craig M.

AU - Arčon, Denis

AU - Prassides, Kosmas

PY - 2026/12

Y1 - 2026/12

N2 - Strong correlations and ferromagnetic Hund’s coupling lead to diverse electronic phenomena in transition-metal oxides that sensitively depend on the d-orbital electron filling. Fullerides, their p-electron counterparts, exhibit effective antiferromagnetic Hund’s coupling in a different energy range. At half-filling (n = 3, three electrons in triply degenerate orbitals), both d- and p-electron systems are Mott insulators due to strong correlations and Hund’s coupling. Away from half-filling, in single-electron/hole (n = 1,5) d-orbital systems, Hund’s coupling opposes the correlations, reducing the Mott gap and allowing survival of metallicity. Here we report a single-hole multiorbital correlated p-electron system, orthorhombic-structured Yb2CsC60 comprising pentavalent C605− anions, which also exhibits a robust metallic state with no Mott transition, just like in the metastable single-electron cubic-structured CsC60. We assert that particle−hole symmetry holds well in (n = 1,5) fullerides and that their p-electron-derived states are analogous to those in d-orbital solids, providing impetus for further study of these correlated systems.

AB - Strong correlations and ferromagnetic Hund’s coupling lead to diverse electronic phenomena in transition-metal oxides that sensitively depend on the d-orbital electron filling. Fullerides, their p-electron counterparts, exhibit effective antiferromagnetic Hund’s coupling in a different energy range. At half-filling (n = 3, three electrons in triply degenerate orbitals), both d- and p-electron systems are Mott insulators due to strong correlations and Hund’s coupling. Away from half-filling, in single-electron/hole (n = 1,5) d-orbital systems, Hund’s coupling opposes the correlations, reducing the Mott gap and allowing survival of metallicity. Here we report a single-hole multiorbital correlated p-electron system, orthorhombic-structured Yb2CsC60 comprising pentavalent C605− anions, which also exhibits a robust metallic state with no Mott transition, just like in the metastable single-electron cubic-structured CsC60. We assert that particle−hole symmetry holds well in (n = 1,5) fullerides and that their p-electron-derived states are analogous to those in d-orbital solids, providing impetus for further study of these correlated systems.

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105040360909

U2 - 10.1038/s41467-026-73095-z

DO - 10.1038/s41467-026-73095-z

M3 - Article

C2 - 42192101

AN - SCOPUS:105040360909

SN - 2041-1723

VL - 17

JO - Nature Communications

JF - Nature Communications

IS - 1

M1 - 4599

ER -

Survival of the metallic state in a single-hole multiband p-orbital molecular system

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