Charge dynamics in thermally and doping induced insulator-metal transitions of (Ti1-xVx)2O3

Charge dynamics of (Ti1-xVx)2O3 with x=0-0.06 has been investigated by measurements of charge transport and optical conductivity spectra in a wide temperature range of 2-600K with the focus on the thermally and doping induced insulator-metal transitions (IMTs). The optical conductivity peaks for the interband transitions in the 3d t2g manifold are observed in the both insulating and metallic states, while their large variation (by ~0.4 eV) with change of temperature and doping level scales with that of the Ti-Ti dimer bond length, indicating the weakened singlet bond in the course of IMTs. The thermally and V-doping induced IMTs are driven with the increase in carrier density by band-crossing and hole-doping, respectively, in contrast to the canonical IMT of correlated oxides accompanied by the whole collapse of the Mott gap.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

A statistical model approximation for perovskite solid-solutions: a Raman study of lead-zirconate-titanate single crystal

Lead titanate (PbTiO3) is a classical example of a ferroelectric perovskite oxide illustrating a displacive phase transition accompanied by a softening of a symmetry-breaking mode. The underlying assumption justifying the soft-mode theory is that the crystal is macroscopically sufficiently uniform so that a meaningful free energy function can be formed. In contrast to PbTiO3, experimental studies show that the phase transition behaviour of lead-zirconate-titanate solid solution (PZT) is far more subtle. Most of the studies on the PZT system have been dedicated to ceramic or powder samples, in which case an unambiguous soft-mode study is not possible, as modes with different symmetries appear together. Our Raman scattering study on titanium-rich PZT single crystal shows that the phase transitions in PZT cannot be described by a simple soft-mode theory. In strong contrast to PbTiO3, splitting of transverse E-symmetry modes reveals that there are different locally-ordered regions. The role of crystal defects, random distribution of Ti and Zr at the B-cation site and Pb ions shifted away from their ideal positions, dictates the phase transition mechanism. A statistical model explaining the observed peak splitting and phase transformation to a complex state with spatially varying local order in the vicinity of the morphotropic phase boundary is given.Comment: Article contains four black-and-white figures, one colour figure and one Table. Symmetry analysis and details of the model are given in Appendices I and II, respectivel

Spin dynamical properties and orbital states of the layered perovskite La_2-2x_Sr_1+2x_Mn_2_O_7 (0.3 <= x < 0.5)

Low-temperature spin dynamics of the double-layered perovskite La_2-2x_Sr_1+2x_Mn_2_O_7 (LSMO327) was systematically studied in a wide hole concentration range (0.3 <= x < 0.5). The spin-wave dispersion, which is almost perfectly 2D, has two branches due to a coupling between layers within a double-layer. Each branch exhibits a characteristic intensity oscillation along the out-of-plane direction. We found that the in-plane spin stiffness constant and the gap between the two branches strongly depend on x. By fitting to calculated dispersion relations and cross sections assuming Heisenberg models, we have obtained the in-plane (J_para), intra-bilayer (J_perp) and inter-bilayer (J') exchange interactions at each x. At x=0.30, J_para=-4meV and J_perp=-5meV, namely almost isotropic and ferromagnetic. Upon increasing x, J_perp rapidly approaches zero while |J_para| increases slightly, indicating an enhancement of the planar magnetic anisotropy. At x=0.48, J_para reaches -9meV, while J_perp turns to +1meV indicating an antiferromagnetic interaction. Such a drastic change of the exchange interactions can be ascribed to the change of the relative stability of the d_x^2-y^2 and d_3z^2-r^2 orbital states upon doping. However, a simple linear combination of the two states results in an orbital state with an orthorhombic symmetry, which is inconsistent with the tetragonal symmetry of the crystal structure. We thus propose that an ``orbital liquid'' state realizes in LSMO327, where the charge distribution symmetry is kept tetragonal around each Mn site.Comment: 10 pages including 7 figure