arXiv subjects

C. S. Nelson

Publications and source records attributed to C. S. Nelson.

26 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2003

Substrate-induced strain effects on Pr_{0.6}Ca_{0.4}MnO_{3} films

We report the characterization of the crystal structure, low-temperature charge and orbital ordering, transport, and magnetization of Pr_{0.6}Ca_{0.4}MnO_{3} films grown on LaAlO_{3}, NdGaO_{3}, and SrTiO_{3} substrates, which provide compressive (LaAlO_{3}) and tensile (NdGaO_{3} and SrTiO_{3}) strain. The films are observed to exhibit different crystallographic symmetries than the bulk material, and the low-temperature ordering is found to be more robust under compressive-- as opposed to tensile-- strain. In fact, bulk-like charge and orbital ordering is not observed in the film grown on NdGaO_{3}, which is the substrate that provides the least amount of nominal and measured, but tensile, strain. This result suggests the importance of the role played by the Mn--O--Mn bond angles in the formation of charge and orbital ordering at low temperatures. Finally, in the film grown on LaAlO_{3}, a connection between the lattice distortion associated with orbital ordering and the onset of antiferromagnetism is reported.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2002

Coherent X-ray Scattering from Manganite Charge and Orbital Domains

We report coherent x-ray scattering studies of charge and orbital domains in manganite systems. The experiments were carried out on LaMnO_3 and Pr_{0.6}Ca_{0.4}MnO_3, with the incident photon energy tuned near the Mn K edge. At room temperature, the orbital speckle pattern of LaMnO_3 was observed to be constant over a timescale of at least minutes, which is indicative of static orbital domains on this timescale. For Pr_{0.6}Ca_{0.4}MnO_3, both charge and orbital speckle patterns were observed. The observation of the latter rules out the presence of fast orbital fluctuations, while long time series data-- on the order of several minutes-- were suggestive of slow dynamic behavior. In contrast, the charge order speckle patterns were static.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2002

Complex Quantum Phenomena in a Bilayered Calcium Ruthenate

Ca$_3$Ru$_2$O$_7$ undergoes an antiferromagnetic transition at $T_{\text{N}}=56 $K, followed by a Mott-like (MI) transition at $T_{\text{MI}}=48$ K. This nonmetallic ground state, with a charge gap of 0.1 eV, is suppressed by a highly anisotropic metamagnetic transition that leads to a fully spin-polarized metallic state. We report the observation of Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations in the \textit{gapped} state, colossal magnetoresistance in the inter-plane resistivity with a large anisotropy different from that observed in the magnetization, and non-Fermi liquid behavior in the metallic state at high magnetic fields.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2001

Common features of nanoscale structural correlations in magnetoresistive manganites with ferromagnetic low-temperature state

We report x-ray scattering studies of nanoscale structural correlations in Nd$_{1-x}$Sr$_x$MnO$_3$ and La$_{1-x}$(Ca,Sr)$_x$MnO$_3$, $x$=0.2--0.5. We find that the correlated regions possess a temperature-independent correlation length of 2-3 lattice constants which is the same in all samples. The period of the lattice modulation of the correlated regions is proportional to the Ca/Sr doping concentration $x$. Remarkably, the lattice modulation periods of these and several other manganites with a ferromagnetic ground state fall on the same curve when plotted as a function of $x$. Thus, the structure of the correlated regions in these materials appears to be determined by a single parameter, $x$. We argue that these observations provide important clues for understanding the Colossal Magnetoresistance phenomenon in manganites.

cond-mat↗

arXiv2001

Orbital Correlations in Doped Manganites

We review our recent x-ray scattering studies of charge and orbital order in doped manganites, with specific emphasis on the role of orbital correlations in Pr_1-xCa_xMnO_3. For x=0.25, we find an orbital structure indistinguishable from the undoped structure with long range orbital order at low temperatures. For dopings 0.3<x<0.5, we find scattering consistent with a charge and orbitally ordered CE-type structure. While in each case the charge order peaks are resolution limited, the orbital order exhibits only short range correlations. We report the doping dependence of the correlation length and discuss the connection between the orbital correlations and the finite magnetic correlation length observed on the Mn^3+ sublattice with neutron scattering techniques. The physical origin of these domains, which appear to be isotropic, remains unclear. We find that weak orbital correlations persist well above the phase transitions, with a correlation length of 1-2 lattice constants at high temperatures. Significantly, we observe similar correlations at high temperatures in La_0.7Ca_0.3MnO_3, which does not have an orbitally ordered ground state, and we conclude that such correlations are robust to variations in the relative strength of the electron-phonon coupling.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2001

A Resonant X-ray Scattering Study of Octahedral Tilt Ordering in LaMnO$_3$ and Pr$_{1-x}$Ca$_x$MnO$_3$

We report an x-ray scattering study of octahedral tilt ordering in the manganite series Pr$_{1-x}$Ca$_x$MnO$_3$ with x=0.4 and 0.25 and in LaMnO$_3$. The sensitivity to tilt ordering is achieved by tuning the incident x-ray energy to the L$_I$, L$_{II}$ and L$_{III}$ absorption edges of Pr and La, respectively. The resulting energy-dependent profiles are characterized by a dipole-resonant peak and higher energy fine structure. The polarization dependence is predominantly $σ$-to-$π$ and the azimuthal dependence follows a sin-squared behavior. These results are similar to those obtained in recent x-ray scattering studies of orbital ordering carried out in these same materials at the Mn K edge. They lead to a description of the cross-section in terms of Templeton scattering in which the tilt ordering breaks the symmetry at the rare earth site. The most interesting result of the present work is our observation that octahedral tilt ordering persists above the orbital ordering transition temperatures in all three samples. Indeed, we identify separate structural transitions which may be associated with the onset of orbital and tilt ordering, respectively, and characterize the loss of tilt ordering versus temperature in LaMnO$_3$.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2000

Correlated Polarons in Dissimilar Perovskite Manganites

We report x-ray scattering studies of broad peaks located at a (0.5 0 0)/(0 0.5 0)-type wavevector in the paramagnetic insulating phases of La_{0.7}Ca_{0.3}MnO_{3} and Pr_{0.7}Ca_{0.3}MnO_{3}. We interpret the scattering in terms of correlated polarons and measure isotropic correlation lengths of 1-2 lattice constants in both samples. Based on the wavevector and correlation lengths, the correlated polarons are found to be consistent with CE-type bipolarons. Differences in behavior between the samples arise as they are cooled through their respective transition temperatures and become ferromagnetic metallic (La_{0.7}Ca_{0.3}MnO_{3}) or charge and orbitally ordered insulating (Pr_{0.7}Ca_{0.3}MnO_{3}). Since the primary difference between the two samples is the trivalent cation size, these results illustrate the robust nature of the correlated polarons to variations in the relative strength of the electron-phonon coupling, and the sensitivity of the low-temperature ground state to such variations.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2000

X-ray Resonant Scattering Studies of Orbital and Charge Ordering in Pr$_{1-x}$Ca$_x$MnO$_3$

We present the results of a systematic x-ray scattering study of the charge and orbital ordering in the manganite series Pr$_{1-x}$Ca$_x$MnO$_3$ with $x$=0.25, 0.4 and 0.5. The temperature dependence of the scattering at the charge and orbital wavevectors, and of the lattice constants, was characterized throughout the ordered phase of each sample. It was found that the charge and orbital order wavevectors are commensurate with the lattice, in striking contrast to the results of earlier electron diffraction studies of samples with $x$=0.5. High momentum-transfer resolution studies of the x=0.4 and 0.5 samples further revealed that while long-range charge order is present, long-range orbital order is never established. Above the charge/orbital ordering temperature T$_o$, the charge order fluctuations are more highly correlated than the orbital fluctuations. This suggests that charge order drives orbital order in these samples. In addition, a longitudinal modulation of the lattice with the same periodicity as the charge and orbital ordering was discovered in the x=0.4 and 0.5 samples. For x=0.25, only long-range orbital order was observed with no indication of charge ordering, nor of an additional lattice modulation. We also report the results of a preliminary investigation of the loss of charge and orbital ordering in the x=0.4 sample by application of a magnetic field. Finally, the polarization and azimuthal dependence of the charge and orbital ordering in these compounds is characterized both in the resonant and nonresonant limits, and compared with the predictions of current theories. The results are qualitatively consistent with both cluster and LDA+U calculations of the electronic structure.

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