PART I: Reviews of spin crossover phenomena in cobalt oxides 1. Spin-crossover phenomena in perovskite cobaltites; Their history and current status of the research (Y. Kobayashi, K. Sato, and K. Asai) 2. Electronic structure of cobaltite (Tomohiko Saitoh)PART II: Recent topics concerning spin-crossover cobaltites 3. Spin blockade in cobaltites (K. Tomiyasu and K. Horigane) 4. Hidden spin-states in cobalt oxides: photoinduced state and excitonic insulating state (Sumio Ishihara) 5. Terahertz spectroscopy and photoinduced phase transition (Shinichiro Iwai) 6. Photo-excited state of cobaltites (Yoichi Okimoto) 7. Thin film fabrication and novel electronic phases (Jun Fujioka) 8. Polar cobaltite and spin crossover phenomena (Masaki Azuma) 9. Thermoelectric properties in cobaltites (Wataru Koshibae)

About the Author:

Yoichi Okimoto is an Associate Professor at the Department of Physics, Tokyo Institute of Technology. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Tokyo in 1998. He was a Research Scientist at the Joint Research Center for Atom Technology from 1998 to 2002, and then a Researcher at the Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) until 2006. He has since held his current position at Tokyo Institute of Technology. His research focuses on the optical spectroscopy of strongly correlated materials and ultrafast control of electronic properties in solid-state materials.

Tomohiko Saitoh is a Professor at the Department of Applied Physics, Tokyo University of Science. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Tokyo in 1996. He worked as a post-doctoral research associate at the University of Colorado at Boulder from 1996 to 1998. In 1998, he became an Assistant Professor at the Photon Factory, the High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK). In 2002, he joined the Department of Applied Physics, Tokyo University of Science as a junior Associate Professor and has been in his current position since 2011. His research interests include electronic structure and magnetism of strongly correlated electron systems such as 3d transition-metal oxides and analyzing them using electron spectroscopy.

Yoshihiko Kobayashi is a Lecturer at the Department of Physics, Tokyo Medical University. He received his Ph.D. from Tokyo Metropolitan University in 1997. After serving as a Research Associate and an Assistant Professor at the University of Electro-Communications, he moved to his current position in 2008. His research interests include magnetic and electrical transport properties of strongly correlated electron systems, and spectroscopic analysis of their electronic structures arising from these properties using synchrotron radiation.

Sumio Ishihara is a Professor at the Department of Physics, Tohoku University. He received his doctor of science degree from the same university in 1995. After serving as a Research Fellow with the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), and the with New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization, and was a Research Associate at the Institute for Materials Research, Tohoku University. He was appointed as a Lecturer at the Department of Applied Physics, the University of Tokyo in 2001, and in 2002 he was appointed as an Associate Professor at Tohoku University, where he was subsequently promoted to professor. His research interests include novel phenomena in correlated electron systems with multi-degrees of freedom.