Helicoidal magnetic order in a clean copper oxide spin chain compound

We report susceptibility, specific heat, and neutron diffraction measurements on NaCu$_2$O$_2$, a spin-1/2 chain compound isostructural to LiCu$_2$O$_2$, which has been extensively investigated. Below 13 K, we find a long-range ordered, incommensurate magnetic helix state with a propagation vector similar to that of LiCu$_2$O$_2$. In contrast to the Li analogue, substitutional disorder is negligible in NaCu$_2$O$_2$. We can thus rule out that the helix is induced by impurities, as was claimed on the basis of prior work on LiCu$_2$O$_2$. A spin Hamiltonian with frustrated longer-range exchange interactions provides a good description of both the ordered state and the paramagnetic susceptibility.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures Improved Fig.1 and 4. Minor rephrasing. Reference adde

Incommensurate spin density modulation in a copper-oxide chain compound with commensurate charge order

Neutron diffraction has been used to determine the magnetic structure of Na$_8$Cu$_5$O$_{10}$, a stoichiometric compound containing chains based on edge-sharing CuO$_4$ plaquettes. The chains are doped with 2/5 hole per Cu site and exhibit long-range commensurate charge order with an onset well above room temperature. Below $T_N = 23$ K, the neutron data indicate long-range collinear magnetic order with a spin density modulation whose propagation vector is commensurate along and incommensurate perpendicular to the chains. Competing interchain exchange interactions are discussed as a possible origin of the incommensurate magnetic order

Wigner crystallization in Na(3)Cu(2)O(4) and Na(8)Cu(5)O(10) chain compounds

We report the synthesis of novel edge-sharing chain systems Na(3)Cu(2)O(4) and Na(8)Cu(5)O(10), which form insulating states with commensurate charge order. We identify these systems as one-dimensional Wigner lattices, where the charge order is determined by long-range Coulomb interaction and the number of holes in the d-shell of Cu. Our interpretation is supported by X-ray structure data as well as by an analysis of magnetic susceptibility and specific heat data. Remarkably, due to large second neighbor Cu-Cu hopping, these systems allow for a distinction between the (classical) Wigner lattice and the 4k_F charge-density wave of quantum mechanical origin.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Magnetic excitations and phonons in the spin-chain compound NaCu2O2

We report an inelastic light scattering study of single-crystalline NaCu$_2$O$_2$, a spin-chain compound known to exhibit a phase with helical magnetic order at low temperatures. Phonon excitations were studied as a function of temperature and light polarization, and the phonon frequencies are compared to the results of ab-initio lattice dynamical calculations, which are also reported here. The good agreement between the observed and calculated modes allows an assignment of the phonon eigenvectors. Two distinct high-energy two-magnon features as well as a sharp low-energy one-magnon peak were also observed. These features are discussed in terms of the magnon modes expected in a helically ordered state. Their polarization dependence provides evidence of substantial exchange interactions between two closely spaced spin chains within a unit cell. At high temperatures, the spectral features attributable to magnetic excitations are replaced by a broad, quasielastic mode due to overdamped spin excitations

Reflectance anisotropy spectroscopy of magnetite (110) surfaces

Reflectance anisotropy spectroscopy (RAS) has been used to measure the optical anisotropies of bulk and thin-film Fe3O4(110) surfaces. The spectra indicate that small shifts in energy of the optical transitions, associated with anisotropic strain or electric field gradients caused by the (110) surface termination or a native oxide layer, are responsible for the strong signal observed. The RAS response was then measured as a function of temperature. A distinct change in the RAS line-shape amplitude was observed in the spectral range from 0.8 to 1.6 eV for temperatures below the Verwey transition of the crystal. Finally, thin-film magnetite was grown by molecular beam epitaxy on MgO(110) substrates. Changes in the RAS spectra were found for different film thickness, suggesting that RAS can be used to monitor the growth of magnetite (110) films in situ. The thickness dependence of the RAS is discussed in terms of various models for the origin of the RAS signal

Electrically-driven phase transition in magnetite nanostructures

Magnetite (Fe$_{3}$O$_{4}$), an archetypal transition metal oxide, has been used for thousands of years, from lodestones in primitive compasses[1] to a candidate material for magnetoelectronic devices.[2] In 1939 Verwey[3] found that bulk magnetite undergoes a transition at T$_{V}$ $\approx$ 120 K from a high temperature "bad metal" conducting phase to a low-temperature insulating phase. He suggested[4] that high temperature conduction is via the fluctuating and correlated valences of the octahedral iron atoms, and that the transition is the onset of charge ordering upon cooling. The Verwey transition mechanism and the question of charge ordering remain highly controversial.[5-11] Here we show that magnetite nanocrystals and single-crystal thin films exhibit an electrically driven phase transition below the Verwey temperature. The signature of this transition is the onset of sharp conductance switching in high electric fields, hysteretic in voltage. We demonstrate that this transition is not due to local heating, but instead is due to the breakdown of the correlated insulating state when driven out of equilibrium by electrical bias. We anticipate that further studies of this newly observed transition and its low-temperature conducting phase will shed light on how charge ordering and vibrational degrees of freedom determine the ground state of this important compound.Comment: 17 pages, 4 figure

Optical analysis of samarium doped sodium bismuth silicate glass

Samarium doped sodium bismuth silicate glass was synthesized using the melt quenching method. Detailed optical spectroscopic studies of the glassy material were carried out in the UV–Vis-NIR spectral range. Using the optical absorption spectra Judd-Ofelt (JO) parameters are derived. The calculated values of the JO parameters are utilized in evaluating the various radiative parameters such as electric dipole line strengths (Sed), radiative transition probabilities (Arad), radiative lifetimes (τrad), fluorescence branching ratios (β) and the integrated absorption cross- sections (σa) for stimulated emission from various excited states of Sm3 +‡ ion. The principal fluorescence transitions are identified by recording the fluorescence spectrum. Our analysis revealed that the novel glassy system has the optimum values for the key parameters viz. spectroscopic quality factor, optical gain, stimulated emission cross section and quantum efficiency, which are required for a high performance optical amplifier. Calculated chromaticity co-ordinates (0.61, 0.38) also confirm its application potential in display devices

Strain relaxation in Fe3O4/MgAl2O4 heterostructures: Mechanism for formation of antiphase boundaries in an epitaxial system with indentical symmetries of film and substrate

Strain relaxation studies in epitaxial magnetite, Fe3O4, thin films grown on MgAl2O4(100) substrates are reported. The study shows that the films were relaxed in line with the theoretical model prediction with a critical thickness, t(c)=5 nm. Antiphase boundaries (APBs) are not expected to form in Fe3O4 films grown on MgAl2O4 substrates because both film and substrate have the same crystal symmetry. In contrast, our study reveals the formation of APBs within the Fe3O4 films. Our analysis shows that the APBs in a Fe3O4/MgAl2O4 heteroepitaxial system are formed by partial dislocations, which accommodate the misfit. This formation mechanism of APBs is fundamentally different from the one found in the Fe3O4/MgO system, where APBs are formed as a consequence of equivalent nucleation sites on the MgO substrate separated by nontranslational vectors of the Fe3O4 lattice. The mechanism for the formation of antiphase boundaries through partial dislocations should be applicable to a wide range of epitaxial systems having identical symmetries of the film and the substrate and significant lattice mismatch