254 research outputs found
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
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
Persistent X-Ray Photoconductivity and Percolation of Metallic Clusters in Charge-Ordered Manganites
Charge-ordered manganites of composition exhibit persistent photoconductivity upon
exposure to x-rays. This is not always accompanied by a significant increase in
the {\it number} of conduction electrons as predicted by conventional models of
persistent photoconductivity. An analysis of the x-ray diffraction patterns and
current-voltage characteristics shows that x-ray illumination results in a
microscopically phase separated state in which charge-ordered insulating
regions provide barriers against charge transport between metallic clusters.
The dominant effect of x-ray illumination is to enhance the electron {\it
mobility} by lowering or removing these barriers. A mechanism based on magnetic
degrees of freedom is proposed.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figure
On the soliton width in the incommensurate phase of spin-Peierls systems
We study using bosonization techniques the effects of frustration due to
competing interactions and of the interchain elastic couplings on the soliton
width and soliton structure in spin-Peierls systems. We compare the predictions
of this study with numerical results obtained by exact diagonalization of
finite chains. We conclude that frustration produces in general a reduction of
the soliton width while the interchain elastic coupling increases it. We
discuss these results in connection with recent measurements of the soliton
width in the incommensurate phase of CuGeO_3.Comment: 4 pages, latex, 2 figures embedded in the tex
Martensitic accommodation strain and the metal-insulator transition in manganites
In this paper, we report polarized optical microscopy and electrical
transport studies of manganese oxides that reveal that the charge ordering
transition in these compounds exhibits typical signatures of a martensitic
transformation. We demonstrate that specific electronic properties of
charge-ordered manganites stem from a combination of martensitic accommodation
strain and effects of strong electron correlations. This intrinsic strain is
strongly affected by the grain boundaries in ceramic samples. Consistently, our
studies show a remarkable enhancement of low field magnetoresistance and the
grain size effect on the resistivity in polycrystalline samples and suggest
that the transport properties of this class of manganites are governed by the
charge-disordered insulating phase stabilized at low temperature by virtue of
martensitic accommodation strain. High sensitivity of this phase to strains and
magnetic field leads to a variety of striking phenomena, such as unusually high
magnetoresistance (10^10 %) in low magnetic fields.Comment: Short paper, 4 figures, to appear in Rapid Communicatio
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
Intrinsic charge transport on the surface of organic semiconductors
The novel technique based on air-gap transistor stamps enabled realization of
the intrinsic (not dominated by static disorder) transport of the
electric-field-induced charge carriers on the surface of rubrene crystals over
a wide temperature range. The signatures of the intrinsic transport are the
anisotropy of the carrier mobility, mu, and the growth of mu with cooling. The
anisotropy of mu vanishes in the activation regime at lower temperatures, where
the charge transport becomes dominated by shallow traps. The deep traps,
deliberately introduced into the crystal by X-ray radiation, increase the
field-effect threshold without affecting the mobility. These traps filled above
the field-effect threshold do not scatter the mobile polaronic carriers.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figure
Domain excitations in spin-Peierls systems
We study a model of a Spin-Peierls material consisting of a set of
antiferromagnetic Heisenberg chains coupled with phonons and interacting among
them via an inter-chain elastic coupling. The excitation spectrum is analyzed
by bosonization techniques and the self-harmonic approximation. The elementary
excitation is the creation of a localized domain structure where the dimerized
order is the opposite to the one of the surroundings. It is a triplet
excitation whose formation energy is smaller than the magnon gap. Magnetic
internal excitations of the domain are possible and give the further
excitations of the system. We discuss these results in the context of recent
experimental measurements on the inorganic Spin-Peierls compound CuGeOComment: 5 pages, 2 figures, corrected version to appear in Phys. Rev.
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