arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to P. Chaddah.
It is a comment on a paper titled "Reversibility of magnetic field driven transition from electronic phase separation state to single-phase state in manganites: A microscopic view" by Liu et al. Phys. Rev. B 96 (2017) 195154.
The low-temperature and high-magnetic field (2K, 8T) powder x-ray diffraction (LTHM-XRD) measurements have been carried out at different temperatures (T) and magnetic fields (H) to investigate the structural phase diagram for phase separated La0.175Pr0.45Ca0.375MnO3 (LPCMO) manganite. The antiferromagnetic (AFM) P21/m insulating phase undergoes field induced transformation to ferromagnetic (FM) Pnma metallic ground state below its AFM ordering temperature (220K) in zero-field cooling (ZFC) from room temperature. At temperature greater than 25K, the field induced FM Pnma phase remained irreversible even after complete removal of field. However, for T ( 39-65K), the field induced transformation is partially reversible. This behaviour has been attributed to magnetic field induced devitrification of the glass-like arrested AFM P21/m phase to FM Pnma equilibrium phase. The devitrified FM Pnma phase starts transforming back to AFM P21/m phase around ~39K on heating the sample under zero field. Our results corroborate the evidence of strong magneto-structural coupling in this system. An H-T phase-diagram has been constructed based on LTHM-XTD data, which resembles with the one made from magnetic measurements. These results have been explained on the basis of kinetic arrest of first order phase transition and field induced devitrification of the arrested phase.
We have found that the geometrically frustrated spin chain compound Ca3Co2O6 belonging to Ising like universality class with uniaxial anisotropy shows kinetic arrest of first order intermediate phase (IP) to ferrimagnetic (FIM) transition. In this system, dc magnetization measurements followed by different protocols suggest the coexistence of high temperature IP with equilibrium FIM phase in low temperature. Formation of metastable state due to hindered first order transition has also been probed through cooling and heating in unequal field (CHUF) protocol. Kinetically arrested high temperature IP appears to persist down to almost the spin freezing temperature in this system.
Novel thermal effects across the first order antiferromagnetic (AFM) - ferromagnetic (FM) transition in an intermetallic alloy are reported. They show instances of warming when heat is extracted from the sample, and cooling when heat is provided to the sample across AFM-FM transition in Ta doped $HfFe_2$, thus providing indisputable evidence of metastable supercooled AFM and superheated FM states, respectively. Such thermal effects in a magnetic solid prepared from commercially available materials has been reported for the first time. The transition proceeds in multiple steps which is interpreted in the framework of quenched disorder broadening of AFM-FM transition and classical nucleation theory. Measurements in the presence of magnetic field conform to above frame work.
The current progress of materials science regarding multifunctional materials (MFM) has put forward the challenges to understand the microscopic origin of their properties. Most of such MFMs have magneto-elastic correlations. To investigate the underlying mechanism, it is therefore essential to investigate the structural properties in the presence of magnetic field. Keeping this in view low temperature and high magnetic field (LTHM) powder x-ray diffraction (XRD), a unique state-of-art facility in India has been developed at CSR Indore. This setup works on symmetric Bragg Brentano geometry using a parallel incident x-ray beam from a rotating anode source working at 17 kW. Using this one can do structural studies at non-ambient conditions i.e. at low- temperatures (2-300 K) and high magnetic field (+8 to -8 T). The available scattering angle ranges from 5° to 115° 2θ with a resolution better than 0.1°. The proper functioning of the setup has been checked using Si sample. The effect of magnetic field on the structural properties has been demonstrated on Pr0.5Sr0.5MnO3 sample. Clear effect of field induced phase transition has been observed. Moreover, the effect of zero field cooled and field cooled conditions is also observed.
This is a Comment on Nayak et al, Phys. Rev. Lett. 110 (2013) 127204 [arXiv:1302.5229]. This comments on one conclusion of that paper, and support for the comment has now appeared.
Phase transitions are caused by varying temperature, or pressure, or magnetic field. The observation of 1st order magneto-structural transitions has created application possibilities based on magnetoresistance, magnetocaloric effect, magnetic shape memory effect, and magneto-dielectric effect. Magnetic field induced transitions, and phase coexistence of competing magnetic phases down to the lowest temperature, gained prominence over a decade ago with theoretical models suggesting that the ground state is not homogeneous. Researchers at Indore pushed an alternative view that this phase coexistence could be due to glasslike kinetic arrest of a disorder-broadened first-order magnetic transition between two states with long-range magnetic order, resulting in phase coexistence down to the lowest temperatures. The CHUF (cooling and heating in unequal field) protocol created at Indore allows the observation of devitrification, followed by melting. I show examples of measurements establishing kinetic arrest in various materials, emphasizing that glasslike arrest of 1st order magnetic transitions may be as ubiquitous as glass formation following the arrest of 1st order structural transitions.
Disorder-broadened 1st order transitions may not carry the experimental signature of a latent heat. We discuss what experimental observation can provide a necessary and sufficient condition for characterizing this phase transition as 1st order.
Phase-coexistence in the manganese-oxide compounds or manganites with colossal magneto-resistance (CMR) has been generally considered to be an inhomogeneous ground state. An alternative explanation of phase-coexistence as the manifestation of a disorder-broadened first order magnetic phase transition being interrupted by the glasslike arrest of kinetics is now gradually gaining ground. This kinetic arrest of a first order phase transitions, between two states with long-range magnetic order, has actually been observed in various other classes of magnetic materials in addition to the CMR manganites. The underlying common features of this kinetic arrest of a first order phase transition are discussed in terms of the phenomenology of glasses. The possible manifestations of such glass-like arrested states across disorder-influenced first order phase transitions in dielectric solids and in multiferroic materials, are also discussed.
Neutron diffraction measurements, performed in presence of an external magnetic field, have been used to show structural evidence for the kinetic arrest of the first-order phase transition from (i) the high temperature austenite phase to the low temperature martensite phase in the magnetic shape memory alloy Ni37Co11Mn42.5Sn9.5, (ii) the higher temperature ferromagnetic phase to the lower temperature antiferromagnetic phase in the half-doped charge ordered compound La0.5Ca0.5MnO3 and (iii) the formation of a glass-like arrested state (GLAS). The CHUF (cooling and heating under unequal fields) protocol has been used to establish phase coexistence of metastable and equilibrium states of GLAS and also to demonstrate the devitrification of the arrested metastable states in the neutron diffraction patterns. We also explore the field-temperature (H,T) phase diagram for the two compounds, which depicts the kinetic arrest line TK(H). TK is seen to increase as H increases.
The first order martensitic transition in the ferromagnetic shape memory alloy Ni45Co5Mn38Sn12 is also a magnetic transition and has a large field induced effect. While cooling in the presence of field this first order magnetic martensite transition is kinetically arrested. Depending on the cooling field, a fraction of the arrested ferromagnetic austenite phase persists down to the lowest temperature as a magnetic glassy state, similar to the one observed in various intermetallic alloys and in half doped manganites. A detailed investigation of this first order ferromagnetic austenite (FM-A) to low magnetization martensite (LM-M) state transition as a function of temperature and field has been carried out by magnetization measurements. Extensive cooling and heating in unequal field (CHUF) measurements and a novel field cooled protocol for isothermal MH measurements (FC-MH) are utilized to investigate the glass like arrested states and show a reverse martensite transition. Finally, we determine a field -temperature (HT) phase diagram of Ni45Co5Mn38Sn12 from various magnetization measurements which brings out the regions where thermodynamic and metastable states co-exist in the HT space clearly depicting this system as a 'Magnetic Glass'.
Low temperature high magnetic field $^{57}Fe$ M$\ddot{o}$ssbauer measurements were carried out on inter-metallic $Hf_{0.77}Ta_{0.23}Fe_2$ compound by following novel paths in H-T space. The ferromagnetic (FM) fraction at 5K and zero magnetic field is shown to depend on cooling field i.e., higher the field higher is the FM fraction. M$\ddot{o}$ssbauer spectra collected in the presence of 4 Tesla magnetic field shows that the antiferromagnetic (AFM) spins cant with respect to the applied magnetic field and hence, contribute to the total bulk magnetization in this compound. The data also show induced magnetic moment even at the 2a site of AFM phase. M$\ddot{o}$ssbauer spectra collected using CHUF (cooling and heating in un-equal magnetic fields) protocol shows re-entrant transition when sample is cooled in zero field and measured during warming in 4 Tesla showing FM state as the equilibrium state. The present work is the first microscopic experimental evidence for the de-vitrification of kinetically arrested magnetic state.
Neutron diffraction measurements, performed in presence of an external magnetic field, have been used to show structural evidence for the kinetic arrest of the first-order phase transition from the high temperature austenite phase to the low temperature martensite phase in the magnetic shape memory alloy Ni37Co11Mn42.5Sn9.5 and the formation of a glass-like arrested state (GLAS). The CHUF (cooling and heating under unequal fields) protocol has been used to establish phase coexistence of metastable and equilibrium states of GLAS in the neutron diffraction patterns. We also explore the field-temperature (H,T) phase diagram for this composition which depicts the kinetic arrest line TK(H). TK is seen to increase as H increases.
Magnetic behavior of the pseudo-binary alloy $Hf_{1-x}Ta_xFe_2$ has been studied, for which the zero field ferromagnetic (FM) to antiferromagnetic (AFM) transition temperature is tuned near to T=0 K. These alloys show anomalous thermomagnetic irreversibility at low temperature due to kinetic arrest of the first order AFM-FM transition. All the three studied compositions show re-entrant transition in zero field cooled warming curve and anomalous non-monotonic variation of upper critical field in isothermal magnetization. The region in H-T space, where these features of kinetic arrest manifest themselves, increases with increasing Ta concentration.
We report the effect of field, temperature and thermal history on the time dependence in resistivity and magnetization in the phase separated state of Al doped Pr$_{0.5}$Ca$_{0.5}$MnO$_3$. The rate of time dependence in resistivity is much higher than that of magnetization and it exhibits a different cooling field dependence due to percolation effects. Our analysis show that the time dependence in physical properties depends on the phase transition dynamics which can be effectively tuned by variation of temperature, cooling field and metastable phase fraction. The phase transition dynamics can be broadly divided into the arrested and un-arrested regimes, and in the arrested regime, this dynamics is mainly determined by time taken in the growth of critical nuclei. An increase in cooling field and/or temperature shifts this dynamics from arrested to un-arrested regime, and in this regime, this dynamics is determined by thermodynamically allowed rate of formation of critical nuclei which in turn depends on the cooling field and available metastable phase fraction. At a given temperature, a decrease in metastable phase fraction shifts the crossover from arrested to un-arrested regimes towards lower cooling field. It is rather significant that inspite of the metastable phase fraction calculated from resistivity being somewhat off from that of magnetization, their cooling field dependence exhibits a striking similarity which indicate that the dynamics in arrested and un-arrested regimes are so different that it comes out vividly provided that the measurements are done around percolation threshold.
A comparative study on as cast and annealed rare earth bulk metallic glass (BMG) with composition Tb36Sm20Al24Co20 has been carried out by magnetization measurements. The as cast amorphous sample shows non-ergodic magnetization but does not show the behavior expected from magnetic glass. After annealing, the partially crystallized BMG shows this magnetic glass behavior. This is confirmed by the established measurement protocol of cooling and heating in unequal fields (CHUF).
CHUF (cooling and heating in unequal field) protocol allows establishing phase coexistence through macroscopic measurements and enables distinguishing the metastable and stable phases (amongst the coexisting phase fractions across a first order magnetic transition) of a glass-like arrested state (GLAS). The observation of kinetic arrest in magnetic shape memory alloys has become a very active area of research. We highlight recent CHUF measurements on these materials that show behaviour similar to that reported earlier in manganites and other intermetallic alloys, emphasizing the generality. The martensitic transition provides an opportunity to study various properties as the CHUF protocol enables tuning of phase fractions, and controlled devitrification, of GLAS.
We study through the time evolution of magnetization the low temperature (T) dynamics of the metastable coexisting phases created by traversing different paths in magnetic field (H) and T space in a shape memory alloy system, Ni$_{45}$Co$_{5}$Mn$_{38}$Sn$_{12}$. It is shown that these coexisting phases consisting of a fraction of kinetically arrested austenite phase and remaining fraction of low-T equilibrium martensitic phase undergo a slow relaxation to low magnetization (martensitic) state but with very different thermomagnetic history-dependent rates at the same T and H. We discovered that, when the nucleation of martensitic phase is initiated at much lower T through the de-arrest of the glass like arrested state contrasted with the respective first order transformation (through supercooling at much higher T), then the long time relaxation rate scales with the non-equilibrium phase fraction but has a very weak dependence on T. This is explained on the basis of the H-T path dependent size of the critical radii of the nuclei and the subsequent growth of the equilibrium phase through the motion of the interface.