High-resolution Mn K-edge x-ray emission and absorption spectroscopy study of the electronic and local structure of the three different phases in Nd0.5Sr0.5MnO3

Nd0.5Sr0.5MnO3 is particularly representative of mixed-valent manganites since their three characteristic macroscopic phases (charge-ordered insulator, ferromagnetic-metallic, and paramagnetic insulator) appear at different temperatures.We here report a complete x-ray emission and absorption spectroscopy (XES-XAS) study of Nd0.5Sr0.5MnO3 as a function of temperature to investigate the electronic and local structure changes of the Mn atom in these three phases. Compared with the differences in the XES-XAS spectra between Nd0.5Sr0.5MnO3 and the single-valent reference compounds NdMnO3 (Mn3+) and Sr/CaMnO3 (Mn4+), only modest changes have been obtained across the magnetoelectrical transitions. The XES spectra, including both the Mn Kα and Kβ emission lines, have mainly shown a subtle decrease in the local spin density accompanying the passage to the ferromagnetic-metallic phase. For the same phase, the small intensity variations in the pre-edge region of the high-resolution XAS spectra reflect an increase of the p-d mixing. The analysis of these XAS spectra imply a charge segregation between the two different Mn sites far from one electron, being in intermediate valences Mn+3.5±δ/2(δ < 0.2 e−) for all the phases. Our results indicate that the spin, charge, and geometrical structure of the Mn atom hardly change among the three macroscopic phases demonstrating the strong competition between the ferromagnetic conductor and the charge-0rdered insulator behaviors in the manganites

Resonant x-ray scattering in La1-xSr1+xMn0 4 (x 0.5): Incommensurate-lattice modulation vs. Charge-stripe models

Using resonant x-ray scattering at the Mn K-edge, we have investigated the nature of the charge and lattice modulation in the La1-xSr1+xMnO4 (x=0.5 and 0.6) manganites. Resonant reflections (h±e, h±e, 0) and (h±2e, h±2e, 0) of the tetragonal I4/mmm structure with a modulation vector of 2e=l-x were found in the insulating phases of both manganites but the intensity of these reflections is much weaker for La0.4Sr1.6MnO4. Resonant x-ray scattering data for the two samples are well explained by the presence of two types of sinusoidal modulations of the oxygen displacements, transverse and longitudinal to the tetragonal [110] direction. The amplitude of the oxygen displacements for any of the modulations decreases with the hole doping, in agreement with the change from a commensurate (x=0.5) to an incommensurate (x=0.6) ordered phase. The different polarization and azimuthal behaviour of the two sets of resonant reflections rule out any kind of stripe model composed by Mn3+-like and Mn4+-like charge-ordering. The maximum charge disproportionation among the different Mn atoms in the unit cell is about 0.15 e- and 0.04 e- for the x=0.5 and x=0.6 samples, respectively. These results thus confirm the existence of a charge-density-wave ordering in both the commensurate-phase of the half-doped La0.5Sr1.5MnO4 and the incommensurate-phase of the over-doped La0.4Sr1.6MnO4 manganites

Resonant x-ray scattering study of charge superstructures in layered L a2-x C axCo O4±d (0.4=x=0.7) and L a1.5 S r0.5Co O4 compounds

We propose a model for the Co charge disproportionation in La2-xCaxCoO4±d (0.4=x=0.7) and La1.5Sr0.5CoO4 layered cobaltites based on the photon energy, azimuthal angle, and polarization dependence of the scattered intensity of selected reflections in a resonant x-ray scattering experiment. Tetragonal superlattice (h/2, h/2, l)-type reflections were detected at room temperature for all the samples independently from the Ca (or Sr) doping rate in agreement with a checkerboard ordering of two different Co sites. The corresponding average charge disproportion is accounted for by a semiempirical model from which the imaginary part of the resonant atomic scattering factors of each of the two Co atoms is obtained resulting in about 0.5±0.1 electron. Moreover, no forbidden (h/4, h/4, l)-type reflections were observed at room temperature indicating the lack of any local anisotropy ordering in contrast with the behavior found in the related layered manganites. Finally, we found the pattern of small distortions (~0.05Å) around the two Co sites compatible with the resonant x-ray scattering results. The symmetry of this displacement pattern is consistent with the A2mm (or Ammm) orthorhombic structure of the ordered phase and the structural transition is accounted for by the condensation of two soft modes - X1+(B2u) and X1+(A1) - acting on the oxygen atoms

Valence change of praseodymium in Pr0.5Ca0.5CoO3 investigated by x-ray absorption spectroscopy

X-ray absorption spectroscopy measurements in Pr0.5Ca0.5CoO3 were performed at the Pr M4,5, Pr L3, and Ca L2,3 absorption edges as a function of temperature below 300 K. Ca spectra show no changes down to 10 K while a noticeable thermally dependent evolution takes place at the Pr edges across the metal-insulator transition. Spectral changes are analyzed by different methods, including multiple scattering simulations, which provide quantitative details on an electron loss at Pr 4f orbitals. We conclude that in the insulating phase a fraction [15(+5)%] of Pr3+ undergoes a further oxidation to adopt a hybridized configuration composed of an admixture of atomic-like 4f1 states (Pr4+) and f- symmetry states on the O 2p valence band (Pr3+L states) indicative of a strong 4f- 2p interaction.Comment: 19 pages (.doc), 4 figures, Phys. Rev. B, in pres

Monitorización de parámetros de calidad de redes de transmisión mediante alta resolución espectral en dominio óptico

La creciente demanda de mayor ancho de banda en los sistemas de comunicaci&oacute;n globales exige una arquitectura cada vez mas compleja donde toman fuerza aquellas redes en las cuales se prescinde de puntos de regeneraci&oacute;n intermedios. Los sistemas con multiplexaci&oacute;n densa en longitud de onda (DWDM) de camino reconfigurable exigen una revisi&oacute;n de los est&aacute;ndares de medida de par&aacute;metros de calidad como la dispersi&oacute;n del modo de polarizaci&oacute;n (PMD) o la relaci&oacute;n se&ntilde;al a ruido &oacute;ptica (OSNR). Se describen en este trabajo las posibilidades que ofrece el an&aacute;lisis de espectros mediante difusi&oacute;n Brillouin estimulada para la monitorizaci&oacute;n de PMD y OSNR frente a m&eacute;todos convencionales. El uso de la difusi&oacute;n Brillouin estimulada como filtro en un analizador de espectros &oacute;pticos permite obtener valores de densidad de potencia en intervalos espectrales suficientemente estrechos como para no verse alterados por la proximidad entre canales. El an&aacute;lisis espectral de alta resoluci&oacute;n introduce mejoras significativas en los m&eacute;todos de medida de OSNR basados en la supresi&oacute;n de se&ntilde;al por polarizaci&oacute;n, al hacerlos compatibles con variaciones del estado de polarizaci&oacute;n a lo largo del ancho de banda de la se&ntilde;al. Adem&aacute;s, la coherencia intr&iacute;nseca del efecto de dispersi&oacute;n Brillouin permite monitorizar diferencias en estado de polarizaci&oacute;n entre componentes espectrales de la se&ntilde;al, y caracterizar de esta manera en dominio &oacute;ptico la degradaci&oacute;n por PMD presente en cada uno de los canales de una se&ntilde;al problema sin necesidad de recurrir a m&eacute;todos en detecci&oacute;n como el diagrama de ojo o la tasa de error de bit

Intrinsic electrical properties of LuFe2O4

We here revisit the electrical properties of LuFe2O4, compound candidate for exhibiting multiferroicity. Measurements of dc electrical resistivity as a function of temperature, electric-field polarization measurements at low temperatures with and without magnetic field, and complex impedance as a function of both frequency and temperature were carried out in a LuFe2O4 single crystal, perpendicular and parallel to the hexagonal c axis, and in several ceramic polycrystalline samples. Resistivity measurements reveal that this material is a highly anisotropic semiconductor, being about two orders of magnitude more resistive along the c axis. The temperature dependence of the resistivity indicates a change in the conduction mechanism at TCO ˜ 320 K from thermal activation above TCO to variable range hopping below TCO. The resistivity values at room temperature are relatively small and are below 5000 O¿cm for all samples but we carried out polarization measurements at sufficiently low temperatures, showing that electric-field polarization curves are a straight line as expected for a paraelectric or antiferroelectric material. Furthermore, no differences are found in the polarization curves when a magnetic field is applied either parallel or perpendicular to the electric field. The analysis of the complex impedance data corroborates that the claimed colossal dielectric constant is a spurious effect mainly derived from the capacitance of the electrical contacts. Therefore, our data unequivocally evidence that LuFe2O4 is not ferroelectric

Electronic states of R F e2 O4(R=Lu, Yb, Tm, Y) mixed-valence compounds determined by soft x-ray absorption spectroscopy and x-ray magnetic circular dichroism

We here report an investigation of the electronic states in the RFe2O4(R=Lu,Yb,Tm,Y) mixed-valence ferrites by means of soft x-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and x-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) measurements together with ab initio theoretical calculations. The presence of Fe+2 and Fe+3 pure ionic species is discarded in the XAS spectra at the OK edge in both experimental data and simulations based on the multiple scattering theory. Similarly, no trace of Fe+2/Fe+3 contributions is detected in the XMCD spectra at the FeK edge. On the other hand, the XAS and XMCD spectra at the FeL2,3 edges can be well described in terms of Fe+2/Fe+3 contributions, and are also supported by multiplet calculations. This finding can be interpreted as the existence of a mixture of 3d5/3d6 configurations at the Fe atoms. Alternative ferrimagnetic spin orderings based on a trimodal Fe valence distribution are also proposed and discussed. Finally, a possible explanation for the strong dependence of the FeL2,3 edges XMCD signal magnitude on both the sample surface preparation and detection method is presented

Structural, Magnetic, and Electronic Properties of CaBaCo4- xMxO7 (M = Fe, Zn)

The effect of substituting iron and zinc for cobalt in CaBaCo4O7 was investigated using neutron diffraction and X-ray absorption spectroscopy techniques. The orthorhombic distortion present in the parent compound CaBaCo4O7 decreases with increasing the content of either Fe or Zn. The samples CaBaCo3ZnO7 and CaBaCo4-xFexO7 with x = 1.5 are metrically hexagonal, but much better refinements in the neutron diffraction patterns are obtained using an orthorhombic unit cell. The two types of substitution have opposite effects on the structural and magnetic properties. Fe atoms preferentially occupy the sites at the triangular layer. Thus, the replacement of Co by Fe suppresses the ferrimagnetic ordering of the parent compound, and CaBaCo4-xFexO7 (0.5 = x = 2) samples are antiferromagnetically ordered following a new propagation vector k = (1/3, 0, 0). However, the Zn atoms prefer occupying the Kagome layer, which is very detrimental for the long-range magnetic interactions giving rise to a magnetic glass-like behavior in the CaBaCo3ZnO7 sample. The oxidation states of iron and zinc are found to be 3+ and 2+, respectively, independently of the content, as confirmed by X-ray absorption spectroscopy. Therefore, the average Co oxidation state changes accordingly with the Fe3+ or Zn2+ doping. Also, X-ray absorption spectroscopy data confirm the different preferential occupation for both Fe and Zn cations. The combined information obtained by neutron diffraction and X-ray absorption spectroscopy indicates that cobalt atoms can be either in a fluctuating Co2+/Co3+ valence state or, alternatively, Co2+ and Co3+ ions being randomly distributed in the lattice. These results explain the occurrence of local disorder in the CoO4 tetrahedra obtained by EXAFS. An anomaly in the lattice parameters and an increase in the local disorder are observed only at the ferrimagnetic transition for CaBaCo4O7, revealing the occurrence of local magneto-elastic coupling