Prediction of Orbital Ordering in Single-Layered Ruthenates

The key role of the orbital degree of freedom to understand the magnetic properties of layered ruthenates is here discussed. In the G-type antiferromagnetic phase of Ca$_2$RuO$_4$, recent X-ray experiments reported the presence of 0.5 hole per site in the $d_{xy}$ orbital, while the $d_{\rm yz}$ and $d_{zx}$ orbitals contain 1.5 holes. This unexpected $t_{2g}$ hole distribution is explained by a novel state with orbital ordering (OO), stabilized by a combination of Coulomb interactions and lattice distortions. In addition, the rich phase diagram presented here suggests the possibility of large magnetoresistance effects, and predicts a new ferromagnetic OO phase in ruthenates.Comment: 4 pages, Revtex, with 2 figures embedded in the text. Submitted to Phys. Rev. Let

Competition between ferromagnetic and charge-orbital ordered phases in Pr1−x_{1-x}Cax_{x}MnO3_3 for xx=1/4, 3/8, and 1/2

Spin, charge, and orbital structures in models for doped manganites are studied by a combination of analytic mean-field and numerical relaxation techniques. At realistic values for the electron-phonon and antiferromagnetic $t_{2g}$ spin couplings, a competition between a ferromagnetic (FM) phase and a charge-orbital ordered (COO) insulating state is found for $x$=1/4, 3/8, and 1/2, as experimentally observed in Pr$_{1-x}$Ca$_{x}$MnO$_3$ for $x$=0.3$\sim$0.5. The theoretical predictions for the spin-charge-orbital ordering pattern are compared with experiments. The FM-COO energy difference is surprisingly small for the densities studied, result compatible with the presence of a robust colossal-magnetoresistive effect in Pr$_{1-x}$Ca$_{x}$MnO$_3$ in a large density interval.Comment: 4 pages, Revtex, with 2 figures embedded in the text. Submitted to Phys. Rev.

A-type Antiferromagnetic and C-type Orbital-Ordered State in LaMnO3_3 Using Cooperative Jahn-Teller Phonons

The effect of Jahn-Teller phonons on the magnetic and orbital structure of LaMnO$_3$ is investigated using a combination of relaxation and Monte Carlo techniques on three-dimensional clusters of MnO$_6$ octahedra. In the physically relevant region of parameter space for LaMnO$_3$, and after including small corrections due to tilting effects, the A-type antiferromagnetic and C-type orbital structures were stabilized, in agreement with experiments.Comment: 4 pages, Revtex, with 3 figures embedded in the text. Submitted to Phys. Rev.