Phonons and Magnetic Excitations in Mott-Insulator LaTiO3_3

The polarized Raman spectra of stoichiometric LaTiO$_3$ (T$_N = 150$ K) were measured between 6 and 300 K. In contrast to earlier report on half-metallic LaTiO$_{3.02}$, neither strong background scattering, nor Fano shape of the Raman lines was observed. The high frequency phonon line at 655 cm$^{-1}$ exhibits anomalous softening below T$_N$: a signature for structural rearrangement. The assignment of the Raman lines was done by comparison to the calculations of lattice dynamics and the nature of structural changes upon magnetic ordering are discussed. The broad Raman band, which appears in the antiferromagnetic phase, is assigned to two-magnon scattering. The estimated superexchange constant $J = 15.4\pm0.5$ meV is in excellent agreement with the result of neutron scattering studies.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure

Temperature-Dependent Polarized Raman Spectra of CaFe2O4

The Raman spectra of CaFe2O4 were measured with several exact scattering configurations between 20 and 520K and the symmetry of all observed Raman lines was determined. The Ag and B2g lines were assigned to definite phonon modes by comparison to the results of lattice dynamical calculations. No anomaly of phonon parameters was observed near the magnetic ordering temperature TN = 160K.Comment: 4 pages, 1 table, 4 figure

Carrier dynamics and infrared-active phonons in c-axis oriented RuSr2_2GdCu2_2O8_8 film

The conductivity spectra of c-axis oriented thin RuSr$_2$GdCu$_2$O$_8$ film on SrTiO$_3$ substrate, prepared by pulsed-laser deposition, are obtained from the analysis of the reflectivity spectra over broad frequency range and temperatures between 10 and 300 K. The free charge carriers are found to be strongly overdamped with their scattering rate (1.0 eV at room temperature) exceeding the plasma frequency (0.55 eV). Four phonon lines are identified in the experimental spectra and assigned to the specific oxygen related in-plane polarized vibrations based on the comparison with the results of a lattice dynamics shell model calculations.Comment: 3 pages, 4 figure

Raman Phonons and Ageing-Related Surface Disorder in NaxCoO2

The polarized Raman spectra from ab and ac surfaces of single crystal NaxCoO2 (x~0.7), parent compound of recently discovered superconductor NaxCoO2.yH2O, are reported and discussed. The crystals were hexagon platelets of typical size 3x3x0.1 mm. Three of the five (A1g+E1g+3E2g) Raman active phonons were unambiguously identified at 458 (E1g), 494(E2g) and 574 (A1g) cm-1. The spectra from ab and ac surfaces differ significantly and provide evidence that within hours after preparation the ac surface, unlike the ab one, is strongly disordered. Within several days the disorder extends over the ab surface too.Comment: 4 pages, 1 table, 4 figures. Physica C (accepted 26 September 2003

Determinative Role of the Jahn-Teller Disorder in the Raman Scattering of Mixed-Valence Manganites

The mixed-valence perovskitelike manganites are characterized by unique interrelation of Jahn-Teller distortions, electric and magnetic properties. The Jahn-Teller distortion follows the Mn(3+)->Mn(4+) charge transfer with some delay. Its development depends on the lifetime of Mn in (3+) state, governed by the Mn(4+)/Mn(3+) ratio and magnetic correlation. The non-coherence of Jahn-Teller distortions in orthorhombic mixed-valence manganites and rhombohedral RMnO3 (R = rare earth) results in oxygen disorder. We demonstrate that the Raman spectra in this case are dominated by disorder-induced bands reflecting the oxygen partial phonon density of states (PDOS). The PDOS origin of the main Raman bands in insulating phases of such compounds is evidenced by the similar lineshape of experimental spectra and calculated smeared PDOS and disappearance of the PDOS bands in ordered ferromagnetic metallic phase.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Unconventional spin fluctuations in the hexagonal antiferromagnet YMnO3_3

We used inelastic neutron scattering to show that well below its N\'{e}el temperature, $T_{\rm N}$, the two-dimensional (2D) XY nearly-triangular antiferromagnet YMnO$_{3}$ has a prominent {\it central peak} associated with 2D antiferromagnetic fluctuations with a characteristic life time of 0.55(5) ps, coexisting with the conventional long-lived spin-waves. Existence of the two time scales suggests competition between the N\'{e}el phase favored by weak interplane interactions, and the Kosterlitz-Thouless phase intrinsic to the 2D XY spin system.Comment: 4pages, 5figure

Non-Fermi liquid behavior and scaling of low frequency suppression in optical conductivity spectra of CaRuO3_3

Optical conductivity spectra $\sigma_1(\omega)$ of paramagnetic CaRuO$_3$ are investigated at various temperatures. At T=10 K, it shows a non-Fermi liquid behavior of $\sigma_1(\omega)\sim 1/{\omega}^{\frac 12}$, similar to the case of a ferromagnet SrRuO$_3$. As the temperature ($T$) is increased, on the other hand, $\sigma_1(\omega)$ in the low frequency region is progressively suppressed, deviating from the 1/{\omega}^{\frac 12%}-dependence. Interestingly, the suppression of $\sigma_1(\omega)$ is found to scale with $\omega /T$ at all temperatures. The origin of the $$ scaling behavior coupled with the non-Fermi liquid behavior is discussed.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Raman phonons as a probe of disorder, fluctuations and local structure in doped and undoped orthorhombic and rhombohedral manganites

We present a rationalization of the Raman spectra of orthorhombic and rhombohedral, stoichiometric and doped, manganese perovskites. In particular we study RMnO3 (R= La, Pr, Nd, Tb, Ho, Er, Y and Ca) and the different phases of Ca or Sr doped RMnO3 compounds as well as cation deficient RMnO3. The spectra of manganites can be understood as combinations of two kinds of spectra corresponding to two structural configurations of MnO6 octahedra and independently of the average structure obtained by diffraction techniques. The main peaks of compounds with regular MnO6 octahedra, as CaMnO3, highly Ca doped LaMnO3 or the metallic phases of Ca or Sr doped LaMnO3, are bending and tilt MnO6 octahedra modes which correlate to R-O(1) bonds and Mn-O-Mn angles respectively. In low and optimally doped manganites, the intensity and width of the broad bands are related to the amplitude of the dynamic fluctuations produced by polaron hopping in the paramagnetic insulating regime. The activation energy, which is proportional to the polaron binding energy, is the measure of this amplitude. This study permits to detect and confirm the coexistence, in several compounds, of a paramagnetic matrix with lattice polaron together with regions without dynamic or static octahedron distortions, identical to the ferromagnetic metallic phase. We show that Raman spectroscopy is an excellent tool to obtain information on the local structure of the different micro or macro-phases present simultaneously in many manganites.Comment: Submitted to PR

A self-interaction corrected pseudopotential scheme for magnetic and strongly-correlated systems

Local-spin-density functional calculations may be affected by severe errors when applied to the study of magnetic and strongly-correlated materials. Some of these faults can be traced back to the presence of the spurious self-interaction in the density functional. Since the application of a fully self-consistent self-interaction correction is highly demanding even for moderately large systems, we pursue a strategy of approximating the self-interaction corrected potential with a non-local, pseudopotential-like projector, first generated within the isolated atom and then updated during the self-consistent cycle in the crystal. This scheme, whose implementation is totally uncomplicated and particularly suited for the pseudopotental formalism, dramatically improves the LSDA results for a variety of compounds with a minimal increase of computing cost.Comment: 18 pages, 14 figure