102 Ch.

3 Crystal Field Theory

tetra-
gonal
4-
cubic I Blt x 2 - y2
4.14.
1 + 1
4-1
E I + Ait 3x2 - r 2

38
4 - I
I + Bat XY
4 . 1 4 - 1 4 . 1
l - t - l + l +
IA.1.t.
T2
+ l + l Et {xx,Y4

Figure 3.7: Schematic representation of the level structure of a Cu2+ ion in a

nearly octahedral environment. The large cubic component of the crystal field gives
rise to the T2 and E levels, which would leave the ground state orbitally degenerate.
The small tetragonal distortion leads to a further splitting of both levels, making it
unambiguous that the hole is in the (z2- y2)-type level.

ground state. This made the status of the energetical argument look
rather uncertain. It has taken the careful group-theoretical work by
Jahn and Teller [182] to prove that molecules with a linear geometry
constitute the only exception from the theorem. The story of these
developments is told by Teller in [394].
Let us stress that in the previous discussion, we were neglecting
spin-orbit coupling, which permitted us to separate the orbital and
spin components of the ground state. The Jahn-Teller theorem can be
generalized to the case of non-vanishing spin-orbit coupling, as it will
be discussed later.
Returning to our example from solid state physics: we find it natural
that, because of the original equivalence of the coordinate axes, the
distortion may equally well be taking place along the x-,or y-axis. If
the octahedra were independent, we might expect a random mixture
of distortions along the x-,y-, and x-axes. It seems to be, however,
intuitively clear that in a periodic array of closely spaced (or even corner-
sharing) octahedra, the total energy of the crystal will be minimized
if the distortions form a well-defined pattern. If they happen all in
the same direction, we speak about a ferrodistortive state. La2CuO4
gives an example for this. It is interesting that the (in many respects)