Direct Observation of Decoupled Structural and Electronic Transitions   and an Ambient Pressure Monoclinic-Like Metallic Phase of VO$_2$
  We report the simultaneous measurement of the structural and electronic components of the metal-insulator transition of VO$_2$ using electron and photoelectron spectroscopies and microscopies. We show that these evolve over different temperature scales, and are separated by an unusual monoclinic-like metallic phase. Our results provide conclusive evidence that the new monoclinic-like metallic phase, recently identified in high-pressure and nonequilibrium measurements, is accessible in the thermodynamic transition at ambient pressure, and we discuss the implications of these observations on the nature of the MIT in VO$_2$. 
J. Laverock and S. Kittiwatanakul and A. A. Zakharov and Y. R. Niu and   B. Chen and S. A. Wolf and J. W. Lu and K. E. Smith
cond-mat.str-el cond-mat.mes-hall cond-mat.mtrl-sci