  Electronic instabilities in transition metal compounds often spontaneously
form orbital molecules, which consist of orbital-coupled metal ions at low
temperature. Recent local structural studies utilizing the pair distribution
function revealed that preformed orbital molecules appear disordered even in
the high-temperature paramagnetic phase. However, it is unclear whether
preformed orbital molecules are dynamic or static. Here, we provide clear
experimental evidence of the slow dynamics of disordered orbital molecules
realized in the high-temperature paramagnetic phase of LiVS2, which exhibits
vanadium trimerization upon cooling below 314 K. Unexpectedly, the preformed
orbital molecules appear as a disordered zigzag chain that fluctuate in both
time and space under electron irradiation. Our findings should advance studies
on soft matter physics realized in an inorganic material due to disordered
orbital molecules.
