Field-induced metal-insulator transition and switching phenomenon in correlated insulators

We study the nonequilibrium switching phenomenon associated with the metal-insulator transition under electric field E in correlated insulator by a gauge-covariant Keldysh formalism. Due to the feedback effect of the resistive current I, this occurs as a first-order transition with a hysteresis of I-V characteristics having a lower threshold electric field (\sim 10^4 Vcm^{-1}) much weaker than that for the Zener breakdown. It is also found that the localized mid-gap states introduced by impurities and defects act as hot spots across which the resonant tunneling occurs selectively, which leads to the conductive filamentary paths and reduces the energy cost of the switching function.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures. A study on the metal-insulator transition in correlated insulators was adde

Ultrafast Photoinduced Formation of Metallic State in a Perovskite-type Manganite with Short Range Charge and Orbital Order

Femtosecond reflection spectroscopy was performed on a perovskite-type manganite, Gd0.55Sr0.45MnO3, with the short-range charge and orbital order (CO/OO). Immediately after the photoirradiation, a large increase of the reflectivity was detected in the mid-infrared region. The optical conductivity spectrum under photoirradiation obtained from the Kramers-Kronig analyses of the reflectivity changes demonstrates a formation of a metallic state. This suggests that ferromagnetic spin arrangements occur within the time resolution (ca. 200 fs) through the double exchange interaction, resulting in an ultrafast CO/OO to FM switching.Comment: 4 figure

Resonant inelastic x-ray scattering from molecules and atoms

X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy is one of the most powerful methods for the understanding of the electronic structure of matter. We report here on fluorescence experiments in the 2 to 6 keV photon energy range using tunable synchrotron radiation and the resulting experimental programs on resonant inelastic scattering in atoms and on polarization measurements in resonant molecular excitations

Model Checking Branching Properties on Petri Nets with Transits (Full Version)

To model check concurrent systems, it is convenient to distinguish between the data flow and the control. Correctness is specified on the level of data flow whereas the system is configured on the level of control. Petri nets with transits and Flow-LTL are a corresponding formalism. In Flow-LTL, both the correctness of the data flow and assumptions on fairness and maximality for the control are expressed in linear time. So far, branching behavior cannot be specified for Petri nets with transits. In this paper, we introduce Flow-CTL* to express the intended branching behavior of the data flow while maintaining LTL for fairness and maximality assumptions on the control. We encode physical access control with policy updates as Petri nets with transits and give standard requirements in Flow-CTL*. For model checking, we reduce the model checking problem of Petri nets with transits against Flow-CTL* via automata constructions to the model checking problem of Petri nets against LTL. Thereby, physical access control with policy updates under fairness assumptions for an unbounded number of people can be verified.Comment: 23 pages, 5 figure

An X-Ray Induced Structural Transition in La_0.875Sr_0.125MnO_3

We report a synchrotron x-ray scattering study of the magnetoresistive manganite La_0.875Sr_0.125MnO_3. At low temperatures, this material undergoes an x-ray induced structural transition at which charge ordering of Mn^3+ and Mn^4+ ions characteristic to the low-temperature state of this compound is destroyed. The transition is persistent but the charge-ordered state can be restored by heating above the charge-ordering transition temperature and subsequently cooling. The charge-ordering diffraction peaks, which are broadened at all temperatures, broaden more upon x-ray irradiation, indicating the finite correlation length of the charge-ordered state. Together with the recent reports on x-ray induced transitions in Pr_(1-x)Ca_xMnO_3, our results demonstrate that the photoinduced structural change is a common property of the charge-ordered perovskite manganites.Comment: 5 pages, 4 embedded EPS figures; significant changes in the data analysis mad

Photoinduced charge and spin dynamics in strongly correlated electron systems

Motivated by photoinduced phase transition in manganese oxides, charge and spin dynamics induced by photoirradiation are examined. We calculate the transient optical absorption spectra of the extended double-exchange model by the density matrix renormalization group (DMRG) method. A charge-ordered insulating (COI) state becomes metallic just after photoirradiation, and the system tends to recover the initial COI state. The recovery is accompanied with remarkable suppression of an antiferromagnetic correlation in the COI state. The DMRG results are consistent with recent pump-probe spectroscopy data.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Ultrafast spin dynamics and critical behavior in half-metallic ferromagnet : Sr_2FeMoO_6

Ultrafast spin dynamics in ferromagnetic half-metallic compound Sr_2FeMoO_6 is investigated by pump-probe measurements of magneto-optical Kerr effect. Half-metallic nature of this material gives rise to anomalous thermal insulation between spins and electrons, and allows us to pursue the spin dynamics from a few to several hundred picoseconds after the optical excitation. The optically detected magnetization dynamics clearly shows the crossover from microscopic photoinduced demagnetization to macroscopic critical behavior with universal power law divergence of relaxation time for wide dynamical critical region.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures. Abstract and Figures 1 & 3 are correcte

Multiphase segregation and metal-insulator transition in single crystal La(5/8-y)Pr(y)Ca(3/8)MnO3

The insulator-metal transition in single crystal La(5/8-y)Pr(y)Ca(3/8)MnO3 with y=0.35 was studied using synchrotron x-ray diffraction, electric resistivity, magnetic susceptibility, and specific heat measurements. Despite the dramatic drop in the resistivity at the insulator-metal transition temperature Tmi, the charge-ordering (CO) peaks exhibit no anomaly at this temperature and continue to grow below Tmi. Our data suggest then, that in addition to the CO phase, another insulating phase is present below Tco. In this picture, the insulator-metal transition is due to the changes within this latter phase. The CO phase does not appear to play a major role in this transition. We propose that a percolation-like insulator-metal transition occurs via the growth of ferromagnetic metallic domains within the parts of the sample that do not exhibit charge ordering. Finally, we find that the low-temperature phase-separated state is unstable against x-ray irradiation, which destroys the CO phase at low temperatures.Comment: 9 pages, 9 encapsulated eps figure

High magnetic field transport measurement of charge-ordered Pr0.5_{0.5}Ca0.5_{0.5}MnO3_3 strained thin films

We have investigated the magnetic-field-induced phase transition of charge-ordered (CO) Pr$_{0.5}$Ca$_{0.5}$MnO$_3$ thin films, deposited onto (100)-oriented LaAlO$_3$ and (100)-oriented SrTiO$_3$ substrates using the pulsed laser deposition technique, by measuring the transport properties with magnetic fields up to 22T. The transition to a metallic state is observed on both substrates by application of a critical magnetic field ($H_C>10T$ at 60K). The value of the field required to destroy the charge-ordered insulating state, lower than the bulk compound, depends on both the substrate and the thickness of the film. The difference of the critical magnetic field between the films and the bulk material is explained by the difference of in-plane parameters at low temperature (below the CO transition). Finally, these results confirm that the robustness of the CO state, depends mainly on the stress induced by the difference in the thermal dilatations between the film and the substrate.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures. To be published in Phys. Rev.

Soft spin waves in the low temperature thermodynamics of Pr_{0.7}Ca_{0.3}MnO_{3}

We present a detailed magnetothermal study of Pr(0.7)Ca(0.3)MnO(3), a perovskite manganite in which an insulator-metal transition can be driven by magnetic field, but also by pressure, visible light, x-rays, or high currents. We find that the field-induced transition is associated with an enormous release of energy which accounts for its strong irreversibility. In the ferromagnetic metallic state, specific heat and magnetization measurements indicate a much smaller spin wave stiffness than that seen in any other manganite, which we attribute to spin waves among the ferromagnetically ordered Pr moments. The coupling between the Pr and Mn spins may also provide a basis for understanding the low temperature phase diagram of this most unusual manganite.Comment: 10 pages, LATEX, 5 PDF figures, corrected typo