4,661 research outputs found
First-order transition in the itinerant ferromagnet CoSSe
Undoped CoS is an isotropic itinerant ferromagnet with a continuous or
nearly continuous phase transition at K. In the doped
CoSSe system, the Curie temperature is lowered to K, and the transition becomes clearly first order in nature. In particular
we find a discontinuous evolution of the spin dynamics as well as strong time
relaxation in the ferromagnetic Bragg intensity and small angle neutron
scattering in vicinity of the ferromagnetic transition. In the ordered state
the long-wavelength spin excitations were found to be conventional
ferromagnetic spin-waves with negligible spin-wave gap ( meV),
indicating that this system is also an excellent isotropic (soft) ferromagnet.
In a wide temperature range up to , the spin-wave stiffness
follows the prediction of the two-magnon interaction theory, , with meV-\AA. The stiffness,
however, does not collapse as from below. Instead a
quasielastic central peak abruptly develops in the excitation spectrum, quite
similar to results found in the colossal magnetoresistance oxides such as
(La-Ca)MnO.Comment: 8pages, 8figure
Magnetic Order and Spin Dynamics in Ferroelectric HoMnO
Hexagonal HoMnO is a frustrated antiferromagnet (T=72 K)
ferroelectric (T=875 K) in which these two order parameters are coupled.
Our neutron measurements of the spin wave dispersion for the S=2 Mn on
the layered triangular lattice are well described by a two-dimensional
nearest-neighbor Heisenberg exchange J=2.44 meV, and an anisotropy that is
0.093 meV above the spin reorientation transition at 40 K, and 0.126 meV below.
For the magnetic structures and phase diagram have been
determined, and reveal additional transitions below 8 K where the
ferroelectrically displaced Ho ions are ordered magnetically.Comment: To be published in Physical Review Letter
Nonfrustrated magnetoelectric with incommensurate magnetic order in magnetic field
We discuss a model nonfrustrated magnetoelectric in which strong enough
magnetoelectric coupling produces incommensurate magnetic order leading to
ferroelectricity. Properties of the magnetoelectric in magnetic field directed
perpendicular to wave vector describing the spin helix are considered in
detail. Analysis of classical energy shows that in contrast to naive
expectation the onset of ferroelectricity takes place at a field that
is lower than the saturation field . One has at strong
enough magnetoelectric coupling. We show that at H=0 the ferroelectricity
appears at . Qualitative discussion of phase diagram in
plane is presented within mean field approach.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures, accepted in JET
Uncorrelated and correlated nanoscale lattice distortions in the paramagnetic phase of magnetoresistive manganites
Neutron scattering measurements on a magnetoresistive manganite
La(CaSr)MnO show that uncorrelated
dynamic polaronic lattice distortions are present in both the orthorhombic (O)
and rhombohedral (R) paramagnetic phases. The uncorrelated distortions do not
exhibit any significant anomaly at the O-to-R transition. Thus, both the
paramagnetic phases are inhomogeneous on the nanometer scale, as confirmed
further by strong damping of the acoustic phonons and by the anomalous
Debye-Waller factors in these phases. In contrast, recent x-ray measurements
and our neutron data show that polaronic correlations are present only in the O
phase. In optimally doped manganites, the R phase is metallic, while the O
paramagnetic state is insulating (or semiconducting). These measurements
therefore strongly suggest that the {\it correlated} lattice distortions are
primarily responsible for the insulating character of the paramagnetic state in
magnetoresistive manganites.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures embedde
Spin-lattice order in frustrated ZnCr2O4
Using synchrotron X-rays and neutron diffraction we disentangle spin-lattice
order in highly frustrated ZnCrO where magnetic chromium ions occupy
the vertices of regular tetrahedra. Upon cooling below 12.5 K the quandary of
anti-aligning spins surrounding the triangular faces of tetrahedra is resolved
by establishing weak interactions on each triangle through an intricate lattice
distortion. The resulting spin order is however, not simply a N\'{e}el state on
strong bonds. A complex co-planar spin structure indicates that antisymmetric
and/or further neighbor exchange interactions also play a role as ZnCrO
resolves conflicting magnetic interactions
First-order nature of the ferromagnetic phase transition in (La-Ca)MnO_3 near optimal doping
Neutron scattering has been used to study the nature of the ferromagnetic
transition in single crystals of La_0.7Ca_0.3MnO_3 and La_0.8Ca_0.2MnO_3, and
polycrystalline samples of La_0.67Ca_0.33MnO_3 and La_5/8Ca_3/8MnO_3 where the
naturally occurring O-16 can be replaced with the O-18 isotope. Small angle
neutron scattering on the x=0.3 single crystal reveals a discontinuous change
in the scattering at the Curie temperature for wave vectors below ~0.065 A^-1.
Strong relaxation effects are observed for this domain scattering, for the
magnetic order parameter, and for the quasielastic scattering, demonstrating
that the transition is not continuous in nature. There is a large oxygen
isotope effect observed for the T_C in the polycrystalline samples. For the
optimally doped x=3/8 sample we observed T_C(O-16)=266.5 K and T_C(O-18)=261.5
K at 90% O-18 substitution. The temperature dependence of the spin-wave
stiffness is found to be identical for the two samples despite changes in T_C.
Hence, T_C is not solely determined by the magnetic subsystem, but instead the
ferromagnetic phase is truncated by the formation of polarons which cause an
abrupt transition to the paramagnetic, insulating state. Application of
uniaxial stress in the x=0.3 single crystal sharply enhances the polaron
scattering at room temperature. Measurements of the phonon density-of-states
show only modest differences above and below T_C and between the two different
isotopic samples.Comment: 13 pages, 16 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
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