A comparative Raman study between YbVO3 and YVO3

An orbital ordering effect is observed in YbVO3 around 170 K while the crystal structure is orthorhombic (space group pnma). A monoclinic transition has been reported below TN = 104 K, while according to recent specific heat measurements, it occurs at 170 K. The crystal structure of YVO3 at 300 K is also orthorhombic. It becomes monoclinic at Tc = 200 K and back orthorhombic at T = 77 K. Spins order into the C-type antiferromagnetic structure below TN1 = 116 K and the order changes into the G-type antiferromagnetic structure below TN2 = 77 K. Controversial interpretations of YVO3 Raman active excitations have been reported. For instance the 489 and 679 cm-1 excitations have been assigned either to phonons or orbitons in two recent studies. In this communication we present a micro-Raman study of YbVO3 and YVO3 Raman active excitations as a function of temperature in order to trace the multiple phase transitions. Also by comparing the two single crystals spectra and previous studies in rare-earth manganites, high energy Raman active excitations are tentatively assigned

Long-range Ni/Mn structural order in epitaxial double perovskite La2NiMnO6 thin films

We report and compare the structural, magnetic, and optical properties of ordered La2NiMnO6 thin films and its disordered LaNi0.5Mn0.5O3 counterpart. An x-ray diffraction study reveals that the B-site Ni/Mn ordering induces additional XRD reflections as the crystal symmetry is transformed from a pseudocubic perovskite unit cell in the disordered phase to a monoclinic form with larger lattice parameters for the ordered phase. Polarized Raman spectroscopy studies reveal that the ordered samples are characterized by additional phonon excitations that are absent in the disordered phase. The appearance of these additional phonon excitations is interpreted as the clearest signature of Brillouin zone folding as a result of the long-range Ni/Mn ordering in La2NiMnO6. Both ordered and disordered materials display a single ferromagnetic-to-paramagnetic transition. The ordered films display also a saturation magnetization close to 4.8 mB/f.u. and a transition temperature (FM-TC) around 270 K, while the disordered ones have only a 3.7 mB/f.u. saturation magnetization and a FM-TC around 138 K. The differences in their magnetic behaviours are understood based on the distinct local electronic configurations of their Ni/Mn cations.Comment: 15 pages, 5 fig

Phase formation, phonon behavior, and magnetic properties of novel ferromagnetic La3BAlMnO9 (B = Co or Ni) triple perovskites

In the quest for novel magnetoelectric materials, we have grown, stabilized and explored the properties of La3BAlMnO9 (B = Co or Mn) thin films. In this paper, we report the influence of the growth parameters that promote B/Al/Mn ordering in the pseudo-cubic unit cell and their likely influence on the magnetic and multiferroic properties. The temperature dependence of the magnetization shows that La3CoAlMnO9 is ferromagnetic up to 190 K while La3NiAlMnO9 shows a TC of 130 K. The behavior of these films are compared and contrasted with related La2BMnO6 double perovskites. It is observed that the insertion of AlO6 octahedra between CoO6 and MnO6 suppresses significantly the strength of the superexchange interaction, spin-phonon and spin-polar coupling.Comment: 13 pages, 3 fig

Probing the role of Nd3+ ions in the weak multiferroic character of NdMn2O5 by optical spectroscopies

Raman and infrared spectroscopies are used as local probes to study the dynamics of the Nd-O bonds in the weakly multiferroic NdMn2O5 system. The temperature dependence of selected Raman excitations reveals the splitting of the Nd-O bonds in NdMn2O5. The Nd3+ ion crystal field (CF) excitations in NdMn2O5 single crystals are studied by infrared transmission as a function of temperature, in the 1800-8000 cm-1 range, and under an applied magnetic field up to 11 T. The frequencies of all 4Ij crystal-field levels of Nd3+ are determined. We find that the degeneracy of the ground-state Kramers doublet is lifted ({\Delta}0 ~7.5 cm-1) due to the Nd3+-Mn3+ interaction in the ferroelectric phase, below TC ~ 28 K. The Nd3+ magnetic moment mNd(T) and its contribution to the magnetic susceptibility and the specific heat are evaluated from {\Delta}0(T) indicating that the Nd3+ ions are involved in the magnetic and the ferroelectric ordering observed below ~ 28 K. The Zeeman splitting of the excited crystal field levels of the Nd3+ ions at low temperature is also analyzed.Comment: This paper is accepted for publication as a Regular Article in Physical Review

Investigation of phonon behavior in Pr2NiMnO6 by micro-Raman spectroscopy

The temperature dependence of phonon excitations and the presence of spin phonon coupling in polycrystalline Pr2NiMnO6 samples were studied using micro-Raman spectroscopy and magnetometry. Magnetic properties show a single ferromagnetic-to-paramagnetic transition at 228 K and a saturation magnetization close to 4.95 \muB/f.u.. Three distinct Raman modes at 657, 642, and 511 cm-1 are observed. The phonon excitations show a clear hardening due to anharmonicity from 300 K down to 10 K. Further, temperature dependence of the 657 cm-1 mode shows only a small softening. This reflects the presence of a relatively weak spin-phonon coupling in Pr2NiMnO6 contrary to other double perovskites previously studied.Comment: 10 pages, 4 fig

Enhanced Raman Microprobe Imaging of Single-Wall Carbon Nanotubes

We explore Raman microprobe capabilities to visualize single wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs). Although this technique is limited to a micron scale, we demonstrate that images of individual SWCNTs, bundles or their agglomerates can be generated by mapping Raman active elementary excitations. We measured the Raman response from carbon vibrations in SWCNTs excited by confocal scanning of a focused laser beam. Carbon vibrations reveal key characteristics of SWCNTs as nanotube diameter distribution (radial breathing modes, RBM, 100-300 cm(exp -1)), presence of defects and functional groups (D-mode, 1300-1350 cm(exp -1)), strain and oxidation states of SWCNTs, as well as metallic or semiconducting character of the tubes encoded in the lineshape of the G-modes at 1520-1600 cm(exp - 1). In addition, SWCNTs are highly anisotropic scatterers. The Raman response from a SWCNT is maximal for incident light polarization parallel to the tube axis and vanishing for perpendicular directions. We show that the SWCNT bundle shape or direction can be determined, with some limitations, from a set of Raman images taken at two orthogonal directions of the incident light polarization

Infrared optical properties of Pr2CuO4

The ab-plane reflectance of a Pr2CuO4 single crystal has been measured over a wide frequency range at a variety of temperatures, and the optical properties determined from a Kramers-Kronig analysis. Above ~ 250 K, the low frequency conductivity increases quickly with temperature; the resistivity follows the form e^(E_a/k_BT), where E_a ~ 0.17 eV is much less than the inferred optical gap of ~ 1.2 eV. Transport measurements show that at low temperature the resistivity deviates from activated behavior and follows the form e^[(T_0/T)^1/4], indicating that the dc transport in this material is due to variable-range hopping between localized states in the gap. The four infrared-active Eu modes dominate the infrared optical properties. Below ~ 200 K, a striking new feature appears near the low-frequency Eu mode, and there is additional new fine structure at high frequency. A normal coordinate analysis has been performed and the detailed nature of the zone-center vibrations determined. Only the low-frequency Eu mode has a significant Pr-Cu interaction. Several possible mechanisms related to the antiferromagnetism in this material are proposed to explain the sudden appearance of this and other new spectral features at low temperature.Comment: 11 pages, 7 embedded EPS figures, REVTeX

Ferromagnetism and magneto-dielectric effect in insulating LaBiMn4/3Co2/3O6 thin films

High quality epitaxial thin films of LaBiMn4/3Co2/3O6 perovskite were fabricated on (001)-oriented SrTiO3 and LaAlO3 substrates by the pulsed laser deposition technique. Magnetization measurements reveal a strong magnetic anisotropy and a ferromagnetic behavior that is in agreement with a super-exchange interaction between Mn4+ and Co2+ ions, which are randomly distributed in the B-site. A distinct anomaly is observed in the dielectric measurements at 130K corresponding to the onset of the magnetic ordering, suggesting a coupling. Above this temperature, the extrinsic Maxwell-Wagner effect is dominating. Theses results are explained using the Raman spectroscopic studies indicating a weak spin-lattice interaction around this magnetic transition.Comment: Submitted to Appl. Phys. Lett. (2008