104 research outputs found
Crystal structure and physical properties of half-doped manganite nanocrystals with size < 100nm
In this paper we report the structural and property (magnetic and electrical
transport) measurements of nanocrystals of half-doped
(LCMO) synthesized by chemical route, having
particle size down to an average diameter of 15nm. It was observed that the
size reduction leads to change in crystal structure and the room temperature
structure is arrested so that the structure does not evolve on cooling unlike
bulk samples. The structural change mainly affects the orthorhombic distortion
of the lattice. By making comparison with observed crystal structure data under
hydrostatic pressure it is suggested that the change in the crystal structure
of the nanocrystals occurs due to an effective hydrostatic pressure created by
the surface pressure on size reduction. This not only changes the structure but
also causes the room temperature structure to freeze-in. The size reduction
also does not allow the long supercell modulation needed for the Charge
Ordering, characteristic of this half-doped manganite, to set-in. The magnetic
and transport measurements also show that the Charge Ordering (CO) does not
occur when the size is reduced below a critical size. Instead, the nanocrystals
show ferromagnetic ordering down to the lowest temperatures along with metallic
type conductivity. Our investigation establishes a structural basis for the
destabilization of CO state observed in half-doped manganite nanocrystals.Comment: 11 pages, 13 Figure
Current-induced phase control in charged-ordered Nd0.5Ca0.5MnO3 and Pr0.6Ca0.4MnO3 crystals
Single crystals of Nd0.5Ca0.5MnO3 and Pr0.6Ca0.4MnO3 show current-induced
insulator-metal transitions at low temperatures. In addition, the
charge-ordering transition temperature decreases with increasing current. The
electroresistive ratio, defined as r0.5/rI where r0.5 is the resistivity at a
current of 0.5 mA and rI the resistivity at a given applied current, I, varies
markedly with temperature and the value of I. Thermal hysteresis observed in
Nd0.5Ca0.5MnO3 and Pr0.6Ca0.4MnO3 at the insulator-metal transition indicates
that the transition is first-order. The current-induced changes are comparable
to those induced by magnetic fields, and the insulator-metal transition in
Pr0.6Ca0.4MnO3 is accordingly associated with a larger drop in resistivity.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures, first submitted to submitted to J. Phys. D;
applied physics on 18th march 200
Brillouin Scattering Studies of La_{0.77}Ca_{0.23}MnO_3 Across Metal-Insulator Transition
Temperature-dependent Brillouin scattering studies have been carried out on
La_{0.77}Ca_{0.23}MnO_3 across the paramagnetic insulator - ferromagnetic metal
(I-M) transition. The spectra show a surface Rayleigh wave (SRW) and a high
velocity pseudo surface acoustic wave (HVPSAW) besides bulk acoustic waves
(BAW). The Brillouin shifts associated with SRW and HVPSAW show blue-shifts,
where as the frequencies of the BAW decrease below the I-M transition
temperature (T_C) of 230 K. These results can be understood based on the
temperature dependence of the elastic constants. We also observe a central peak
whose width is maximum at T_C.Comment: 7 pages, 8 figure
NaGdF4:Eu3+ Nanoparticles for Enhanced X-ray Excited Optical Imaging.
X-ray luminescent nanoparticles (NPs), including lanthanide fluorides, have been evaluated for application to deep tissue in vivo molecular imaging using optical tomography. A combination of high material density, higher atomic number and efficient NIR luminescence from compatible lanthanide dopant ions indicates that particles that consist of ALnF4 (A = alkaline, Ln = lanthanide element) may offer a very attractive class of materials for high resolution, deep tissue imaging with X-ray excitation. NaGdF4:Eu3+ NPs produced an X-ray excited luminescence that was among the most efficient of nanomaterials that have been studied thus far. We have systematically studied factors such as (a) the crystal structure that changes the lattice environment of the doped Eu3+ ions within the unit cell; and extrinsic factors such as (b) a gold coating (with attendant biocompatibility) that couples to a plasmonic excitation, and (c) changes in the NPs surface properties via changes in the pH of the suspending medium-all with a significant impact on the X-ray excited luminescence of NaGdF4:Eu3+NPs. The luminescence from an optimally doped hexagonal phase NaGdF4:Eu3+ nanoparticle was 25% more intense compared to that of a cubic structure. We observed evidence of plasmonic reabsorption of midwavelength emission by a gold coating on hexagonal NaGdF4:Eu3+ NPs; fortunately, the NaGdF4:Eu3+ @Au core-shell NPs retained the efficient 5D0→7F4 NIR (692 nm) luminescence. The NaGdF4:Eu3+ NPs exhibited sensitivity to the ambient pH when excited by X-rays, an effect not seen with UV excitation. The sensitivity to the local environment can be understood in terms of the sensitivity of the excitons that are generated by the high energy X-rays (and not by UV photons) to crystal structure and to the surface state of the particles
Electronic phase separation in the rare earth manganates, (La1-xLnx)0.7Ca0.3MnO3 (Ln = Nd, Gd and Y)
All the three series of manganates showsaturation magnetization
characteristic of ferromagnetism, with the ferromagnetic Tc decreasing with
increasing in x up to a critical value of x, xc (xc = 0.6, 0.3, 0.2
respectively for Nd, Gd, Y). For x > xc, the magnetic moments are considerably
smaller showing a small increase around TM, the value of TM decreasing slightly
with increase in x or decrease in . The ferromagnetic compositions (x xc)
show insulator-metal (IM) transitions, while the compositions with x > xc are
insulating. The magnetic and electrical resistivity behavior of these
manganates is consistent with the occurrence of phase separation in the
compositions around xc, corresponding to a critical average radius of the
A-site cation, , of 1.18 A. Both Tc and TIM increase linearly when < rA
> > or x xc as expected of a homogenous ferromagnetic phase. Both Tc
and TM decrease linearly with the A-site cation size disorder at the A-site as
measured by the variance s2. Thus, an increase in s2 favors the insulating AFM
state. Percolative conduction is observed in the compositions with > <
rAc >. Electron transport properties in the insulating regime for x > xc
conforms to the variable range hopping mechanism. More interestingly, when x >
xc, the real part of dielectric constant (e') reaches a high value (104-106) at
ordinary temperatures dropping to a very small (~500) value below a certain
temperature, the value of which decreases with decreasing frequency.Comment: 27 pages; 11 figures, Submitted to J.Phys:Condens Matte
Multiferroic nature of charge-ordered rare earth manganites
Charge-ordered rare earth manganites Nd0.5Ca0.5MnO3, La0.25Nd0.25Ca0.5MnO3,
Pr0.7Ca0.3MnO3 and Pr0.6Ca0.4MnO3 are found to exhibit dielectric constant
anomalies around the charge-ordering or the magnetic transition temperatures.
Magnetic fields have a marked effect on the dielectric properties, indicating
the presence of coupling between the magnetic and electrical order parameters.
The observation of magnetoferroelectricity in these manganites is in accord
with the recent theoretical predictions of Khomskii and coworkers
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A-site Ordering versus Electronic Inhomogeneity in CMR-Manganite Films
Epitaxial La3/4Ca1/4MnO3/MgO(100) (LCMO) thin films show unusual rhombohedral
(R-3c) structure with a new perovskite superstructure due to unique ordering of
La and Ca at the A-site positions. Very sharp insulator-metal and
para-ferromagnetic phase transitions at temperatures up to TMI ~ TC=295 K were
observed. The ordered films were electronically homogeneous down to 1 nm scale
as revealed by scanning tunnelling microscopy/spectroscopy. In contrast,
orthorhombic and A-site disordered LCMO demonstrate broadened phase transitions
as well as mesoscopic phase separation for T<<TC. The unique La/Ca ordering
suppresses cation mismatch stress within one super-cell, a~1.55 nm, enhancing
electronic homogeneity. Phase separation scenario seems not to be a unique
mechanism for CMR as very large CMR=500 % was also observed in A-site ordered
films.Comment: We have added two references and additional sentence
Ripple modulated electronic structure of a 3D topological insulator
3D topological insulators, similar to the Dirac material graphene, host
linearly dispersing states with unique properties and a strong potential for
applications. A key, missing element in realizing some of the more exotic
states in topological insulators is the ability to manipulate local electronic
properties. Analogy with graphene suggests a possible avenue via a topographic
route by the formation of superlattice structures such as a moir\'e patterns or
ripples, which can induce controlled potential variations. However, while the
charge and lattice degrees of freedom are intimately coupled in graphene, it is
not clear a priori how a physical buckling or ripples might influence the
electronic structure of topological insulators. Here we use Fourier transform
scanning tunneling spectroscopy to determine the effects of a one-dimensional
periodic buckling on the electronic properties of Bi2Te3. By tracking the
spatial variations of the scattering vector of the interference patterns as
well as features associated with bulk density of states, we show that the
buckling creates a periodic potential modulation, which in turn modulates the
surface and the bulk states. The strong correlation between the topographic
ripples and electronic structure indicates that while doping alone is
insufficient to create predetermined potential landscapes, creating ripples
provides a path to controlling the potential seen by the Dirac electrons on a
local scale. Such rippled features may be engineered by strain in thin films
and may find use in future applications of topological insulators.Comment: Nature Communications (accepted
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