1,971 research outputs found
Phase Competition in Ln0.5a0.5mno3 Perovskites
Single crystals of the systems Pr0.5(Ca1-xSrx)0.5MnO3,
(Pr1-yYy)0.5(Ca1-xSrx)0.5MnO3, and Sm0.5Sr0.5MnO3 were grown to provide a
series of samples with fixed ratio Mn(III)/Mn(IV)=1 having geometric tolerance
factors that span the transition from localized to itinerant electronic
behavior of the MnO3 array. A unique ferromagnetic phase appears at the
critical tolerance factor tc= 0.975 that separates charge ordering and
localized-electron behavior for t<tc from itinerant or molecular-orbital
behavior for t>tc. This ferromagnetic phase, which has to be distinguished from
the ferromagnetic metallic phase stabilized at tolerance factors t>tc,
separates two distinguishable Type-CE antiferromagnetic phases that are
metamagnetic. Measurements of the transport properties under hydrostatic
pressure were carried out on a compositions t a little below tc in order to
compare the effects of chemical vs. hydrostatic pressure on the phases that
compete with one another near t=tc.Comment: 10 pages. To be publised in Phys. Rev.
V-V Bond-Length Fluctuations in Vox
We report a significantly stronger suppression of the phonon contribution to
the thermal conductivity in VOx than can be accounted for by disorder of the 16
% atomic vacancies present in VO. Since the transition from localized to
itinerant electronic behavior is first-order and has been shown to be
characterized by bond-length fluctuations in several transition-metal oxides
with the perovskite structure, we propose that cooperative V-V bond-length
fluctuations play a role in VO similar to the M-O bond-length fluctuations in
the perovskites. This model is able to account for the strong suppression of
the thermal conductivity, the existence of a pseudogap confirmed by
thermoelectric power, an anomalously large Debye-Waller factor, the temperature
dependence of the magnetic susceptibility, and the inability to order atomic
vacancies in VO.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure
Magneto-elastic coupling and unconventional magnetic ordering in triangular multiferroic AgCrS2
The temperature evolution of the crystal and magnetic structures of
ferroelectric sulfide AgCrS2 have been investigated by means of neutron
scattering. AgCrS2 undergoes at TN = 41.6 K a first-order phase transition,
from a paramagnetic rhombohedral R3m to an antiferromagnetic monoclinic
structure with a polar Cm space group. In addition to being ferroelectric below
TN, the low temperature phase of AgCrS2 exhibits an unconventional collinear
magnetic structure that can be described as double ferromagnetic stripes
coupled antiferromagnetically, with the magnetic moment of Cr+3 oriented along
b within the anisotropic triangular plane. The magnetic couplings stabilizing
this structure are discussed using inelastic neutron scattering results.
Ferroelectricity below TN in AgCrS2 can possibly be explained in terms of
atomic displacements at the magneto-elastic induced structural distortion.
These results contrast with the behavior of the parent frustrated
antiferromagnet and spin-driven ferroelectric AgCrO2
On the nature of the magnetic ground-state wave function of V_2O_3
After a brief historical introduction, we dwell on two recent experiments in
the low-temperature, monoclinic phase of V_2O_3: K-edge resonant x-ray
scattering and non-reciprocal linear dichroism, whose interpretations are in
conflict, as they require incompatible magnetic space groups. Such a conflict
is critically reviewed, in the light of the present literature, and new
experimental tests are suggested, in order to determine unambiguously the
magnetic group. We then focus on the correlated, non-local nature of the
ground-state wave function, that is at the basis of some drawbacks of the LDA+U
approach: we singled out the physical mechanism that makes LDA+U unreliable,
and indicate the way out for a possible remedy. Finally we explain, by means of
a symmetry argument related to the molecular wave function, why the magnetic
moment lies in the glide plane, even in the absence of any local symmetry at
vanadium sites.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figur
Orbital order in classical models of transition-metal compounds
We study the classical 120-degree and related orbital models. These are the
classical limits of quantum models which describe the interactions among
orbitals of transition-metal compounds. We demonstrate that at low temperatures
these models exhibit a long-range order which arises via an "order by disorder"
mechanism. This strongly indicates that there is orbital ordering in the
quantum version of these models, notwithstanding recent rigorous results on the
absence of spin order in these systems.Comment: 7 pages, 1 eps fi
Metal-insulator transition in NdEuNiO compounds
Polycrystalline NdEuNiO () compounds
were synthesized in order to investigate the character of the metal-insulator
(MI) phase transition in this series. Samples were prepared through the sol-gel
route and subjected to heat treatments at 1000 C under oxygen
pressures as high as 80 bar. X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and Neutron Powder
Diffraction (NPD), electrical resistivity , and Magnetization
measurements were performed on these compounds. The results of NPD and XRD
indicated that the samples crystallize in an orthorhombic distorted perovskite
structure, space group . The analysis of the structural parameters
revealed a sudden and small expansion of 0.2% of the unit cell volume
when electronic localization occurs. This expansion was attributed to a small
increase of 0.003 \AA{} of the average Ni-O distance and a simultaneous
decrease of of the Ni-O-Ni superexchange angle. The
measurements revealed a MI transition occurring at temperatures
ranging from to 336 K for samples with and 0.50,
respectively. These measurements also show a large thermal hysteresis in
NdNiO during heating and cooling processes suggesting a first-order
character of the phase transition at . The width of this thermal
hysteresis was found to decrease appreciably for the sample
NdEuNiO. The results indicate that cation disorder
associated with increasing substitution of Nd by Eu is responsible for changing
the first order character of the transition in NdNiO.Comment: 19 pages, 9 figure
Optical investigation of the metal-insulator transition in
We present a comprehensive optical study of the narrow gap
semiconductor. From the optical reflectivity, measured from the far infrared up
to the ultraviolet spectral range, we extract the complete absorption spectrum,
represented by the real part of the complex optical
conductivity. With decreasing temperature below 80 K, we find a progressive
depletion of below cm, the
semiconducting optical gap. The suppressed (Drude) spectral weight within the
gap is transferred at energies and also partially piles up over a
continuum of excitations extending in the spectral range between zero and
. Moreover, the interaction of one phonon mode with this continuum leads
to an asymmetric phonon shape. Even though several analogies between
and were claimed and a Kondo-insulator scenario was also invoked for
both systems, our data on differ in several aspects from those of
. The relevance of our findings with respect to the Kondo insulator
description will be addressed.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figure
Influence of ion implantation on the magnetic and transport properties of manganite films
We have used oxygen ions irradiation to generate controlled structural
disorder in thin manganite films. Conductive atomic force microscopy CAFM),
transport and magnetic measurements were performed to analyze the influence of
the implantation process in the physical properties of the films. CAFM images
show regions with different conductivity values, probably due to the random
distribution of point defect or inhomogeneous changes of the local Mn3+/4+
ratio to reduce lattice strains of the irradiated areas. The transport and
magnetic properties of these systems are interpreted in this context.
Metal-insulator transition can be described in the frame of a percolative
model. Disorder increases the distance between conducting regions, lowering the
observed TMI. Point defect disorder increases localization of the carriers due
to increased disorder and locally enhanced strain field. Remarkably, even with
the inhomogeneous nature of the samples, no sign of low field magnetoresistance
was found. Point defect disorder decreases the system magnetization but doesn t
seem to change the magnetic transition temperature. As a consequence, an
important decoupling between the magnetic and the metal-insulator transition is
found for ion irradiated films as opposed to the classical double exchange
model scenario.Comment: 27 pages, 11 Figure
Trimer Formation and Metal-Insulator Transition in Orbital Degenerate Systems on a Triangular Lattice
As a prototypical self-organization in the system with orbital degeneracy, we
theoretically investigate trimer formation on a triangular lattice, as observed
in LiVO2. From the analysis of an effective spin-orbital coupled model in the
strong correlation limit, we show that the previously-proposed orbital-ordered
trimer state is not the lowest-energy state for a finite Hund's-rule coupling.
Instead, exploring the ground state in a wide range of parameters for a
multiorbital Hubbard model, we find an instability toward a different
orbital-ordered trimer state in the intermediately correlated regime in the
presence of trigonal crystal field. The trimer phase appears in the competing
region among a paramagnetic metal, band insulator, and Mott insulator. The
underlying mechanism is nesting instability of the Fermi surface by a
synergetic effect of Coulomb interactions and trigonal-field splitting. The
results are compared with experiments in triangularlattice compounds, LiVX2
(X=O, S, Se) and NaVO2.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in J. Phys. Soc. Jp
Influence of lattice distortion on the Curie temperature and spin-phonon coupling in LaMnCoO
Two distinct ferromagnetic phases of LaMnCoO having
monoclinic structure with distinct physical properties have been studied. The
ferromagnetic ordering temperature is found to be different
for both the phases. The origin of such contrasting characteristics is assigned
to the changes in the distance(s) and angle(s) between Mn - O - Co resulting
from distortions observed from neutron diffraction studies. Investigations on
the temperature dependent Raman spectroscopy provide evidence for such
structural characteristics, which affects the exchange interaction. The
difference in B-site ordering which is evident from the neutron diffraction is
also responsible for the difference in . Raman scattering
suggests the presence of spin-phonon coupling for both the phases around the
. Electrical transport properties of both the phases have been
investigated based on the lattice distortion.Comment: 9 figure
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