Weak ferromagnetism of La_{1.99}Sr_{0.01}CuO_4 thin films: evidence for removal of corrugation in CuO_2 plane by epitaxial strain

The weak ferromagnetism of La_{1.99}Sr_{0.01}CuO_4 epitaxial thin films is investigated using magnetoresistance measurement. While a steplike negative magnetoresistance associated with the weak ferromagnetic transition is clearly observed in the films grown on YAlO_3(001), it is notably suppressed in the films grown on SrTiO_3(100) and (LaAlO_3)_{0.3}(SrAl_{0.5}Ta_{0.5}O_3)_{0.7}(100), and almost disappears in films grown on LaSrAlO_4(001). The strong suppression of the steplike magnetoresistance provides evidence that the CuO_2 planes are much less corrugated in thin films grown on tetragonal substrates, particularly on LaSrAlO_4(001), than in bulk crystals.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figures, to be published in Physical Review

Structure of the exotic spin-flop states in BaCu2Si2O7

The unusual 2-stage spin flop transition in BaCu2Si2O7 is studied by single-crystal neutron diffraction. The magnetic structures of the various spin-flop phases are determined. The results appear to be inconsistent with the previously proposed theoretical explanation of the 2-stage transition.Comment: 6 pages 5 figure

Nature of Chemisorption on Titanium Carbide and Nitride

Extensive density-functional calculations are performed to understand atomic chemisorption on the TiC(111) and TiN(111) surfaces, in particular the calculated pyramid-shaped trends in the adsorption energies for second- and third-period adatoms. Our previously proposed concerted-coupling model for chemisorption on TiC(111) is tested against new results for adsorption on TiN(111) and found to apply on this surface as well, thus reflecting both similarities and differences in electronic structure between the two compounds.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, conference proceeding presented at IWSP-2005 (Polanica Zdoj, Poland, 2005), submitted to Surf. Sci. (2005

Two-stage spin-flop transitions in S = 1/2 antiferromagnetic spin chain BaCu_2Si_2O_7

Two-stage spin-flop transitions are observed the in quasi-one-dimensional antiferromagnet, BaCu${}_2$Si${}_2$O${}_7$. A magnetic field applied along the easy axis induces a spin-flop transition at 2.0 T followed by a second transition at 4.9 T. The magnetic susceptibility indicates the presence of Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya (DM) antisymmetric interactions between the intrachain neighboring spins. We discuss a possible mechanism whereby the geometrical competition between DM and interchain interactions, as discussed for the two-dimensional antiferromagnet La${}_2$CuO${}_4$, causes the two-stage spin-flop transitions.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures (included), accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Let

Magnetic anisotropy of BaCu2Si2O7: theory and antiferromagnetic resonance

Antiferromagnetic resonance (AFMR) of BaCu2Si2O7 and a microscopic theory of the magnetic anisotropy of spin 1/2 chain compounds with folded CuO3 geometry being in good agreement with the available data are presented. The AFMR studies at 4.2 K show the existence of two gaps (40 and 76 GHz) at zero magnetic field and of two spin re-orientation transitions for H||c. The microscopic origin of the two gaps is shown to be Hund's rule coupling which leads to a "residual anisotropy" beyond the compensation of the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya term by the symmetric anisotropy which would be valid without Hund's coupling.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Transport properties and electronic states of the thermoelectric oxide NaCo_2O_4

Physical properties of the thermoelectric oxide NaCo_2O_4 are briefly reviewed. The high thermoelectric properties of this material are attributed to the substantially enhanced effective mass, which comes from the large entropy of Co$^{4+}$ in the low spin state. The large entropy confined in the CoO_2 block causes a spin-density-wave transition at 22 K upon Cu substitution for Co, which can be regarded as ``order from disorder''.Comment: 4 Pages, $ figures, Proceedings of The 2nd Hiroshima Workshop: Transport and Thermal Properties of Advanced Material

Doping evolution of the electronic specific heat coefficient in slightly-doped La2-xSrxCuO4 single crystals

Detailed doping dependence of the electronic specific heat coefficient gamma is studied for La2-xSrxCuO4 (LSCO) single crystals in the slightly-doped regime. We find that gamma systematically increases with doping, and furthermore, even for the samples in the antiferromagnetic (AF) regime, gamma already acquires finite value and grows with x. This suggests that finite electronic density of states (DOS) is created in the AF regime where the transport shows strong localization at low temperatures, and this means the system is not a real insulator with a clear gap even though it still keeps long range AF order.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in Journal of Physics: Conference Series (LT25 proceeding

Large magneto-thermal effect and the spin-phonon coupling in a parent insulating cuprate Pr_{1.3}La_{0.7}CuO_4

The magnetic-field (H) dependence of the thermal conductivity \kappa of Pr_{1.3}La_{0.7}CuO_4 is found to show a pronounced minimum for in-plane fields at low temperature, which is best attributed to the scattering of phonons by free spins that are seen by a Schottky-type specific heat and a Curie-Weiss susceptibility. Besides pointing to a strong spin-phonon coupling in cuprates, the present result demonstrates that the H-dependence of the phonon heat transport should not be naively neglected when discussing the \kappa(H) behavior of cuprates, since the Schottky anomaly is ubiquitously found in cuprates at any doping.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.