  $\gamma$-triclinic and $\alpha$-monoclinic polymorphs of CoV$_{2}$O$_{6}$ are
two of the few known transition metal ion based materials that display stepped
$1/3$ magnetization plateaus at low temperatures. Neutron diffraction [M.
Markkula et al. Phys. Rev. B 86, 134401 (2012)], x-ray dichroism [N. Hollmann
et al. Phys. Rev. B 89, 201101(R) (2014)], and dielectric measurements [K.
Singh et al. J. Mater. Chem. 22, 6436 (2012)] have shown a coupling between
orbital, magnetic and structural orders in CoV$_{2}$O$_{6}$. We apply neutron
inelastic scattering to investigate this coupling by measuring the spin-orbit
transitions in both $\alpha$ and $\gamma$ polymorphs. We find the spin-exchange
and anisotropy in monoclinic $\alpha$-CoV$_{2}$O$_{6}$ to be weak in comparison
with the spin-orbit coupling $\lambda$ and estimate an upper limit of
$|J/\lambda| \sim$ 0.05. However, the spin exchange is larger in the triclinic
polymorph and we suggest the excitations are predominately two dimensional. The
local compression of the octahedra surrounding the Co$^{2+}$ ion results in a
direct coupling between higher energy orbital levels, the magnetic ground
state, and elastic strain. CoV$_{2}$O$_{6}$ is therefore an example where the
local distortion along with the spin-orbit coupling provides a means of
intertwining structural and magnetic properties. We finish the paper by
investigating the low-energy magnetic fluctuations within the ground state
doublet and report a magnetic excitation that is independent of the local
crystalline electric field. We characterize the temperature and momentum
dependence of these excitations and discuss possible connections to the
magnetization plateaus.

Strongly Correlated Electrons;Materials Science