arXiv subjects

R. S. Freitas

Publications and source records attributed to R. S. Freitas.

32 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2005

Magnetodielectric consequences of phase separation in the colossal magnetoresistance manganite Pr0.7Ca0.3MnO3

We have studied the low-frequency dielectric properties of the phase-separated manganite Pr0.7Ca0.3MnO3 as a function of applied magnetic field in the low temperature phase-separated state. The dielectric constant is strongly field dependent and also depends on the magnetic field history of the sample. The dielectric behavior appears to be associated with the hopping of polaronic charge carriers, and we can derive the field dependent hopping energy barrier from the frequency dependence of the dielectric constant. This analysis allows us to associate the metal-insulator transition observed in this material with the field-induced suppression of the polaron activation energy.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2005

Magnetic frustration in the sawtooth lattice of ZnLn2S4 (Ln = Er, Tm, Yb) olivines

We report the magnetic properties of the ZnLn2S4 (Ln = Er, Tm, Yb) olivines, in which the magnetic lanthanide ions are in a potentially frustrated geometry consisting of sawtooth chains of corner-sharing triangles. Fits to the high temperature magnetic susceptibility yielded Curie-Weiss temperatures of theta ~ -4, -13, and -75 K for the Er, Tm, and Yb compounds respectively. Antiferromagnetic interactions indicated by these negative theta values, along with the absence of magnetic long range order above T = 1.8 K, suggest that geometrical frustration of magnetic ordering exists in these sulfide olivines as has been observed previously in the rare earth chalcogenide spinels.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2005

Geometrical Magnetic Frustration in Rare Earth Chalcogenide Spinels

We have characterized the magnetic and structural properties of the CdLn2Se4 (Ln = Dy, Ho), and CdLn2S4 (Ln = Ho, Er, Tm, Yb) spinels. We observe all compounds to be normal spinels, possessing a geometrically frustrated sublattice of lanthanide atoms with no observable structural disorder. Fits to the high temperature magnetic susceptibilities indicate these materials to have effective antiferromagnetic interactions, with Curie-Weiss temperatures theta ~ -10 K, except CdYb2S4 for which theta ~ -40 K. The absence of magnetic long range order or glassiness above T = 1.8 K strongly suggests that these materials are a new venue in which to study the effects of strong geometrical frustration, potentially as rich in new physical phenomena as that of the pyrochlore oxides.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2004

Abrupt field-induced transition triggered by magnetocaloric effect in phase-separated manganites

The occurrence at low temperatures of an ultrasharp field-induced transition in phase separated manganites is analyzed. Experimental results show that magnetization and specific heat step-like transitions below 5 K are correlated with an abrupt change of the sample temperature, which happens at a certain critical field. This temperature rise, a magnetocaloric effect, is interpreted as produced by the released energy at the transition point, and is the key to understand the existence of the abrupt field-induced transition. A qualitative analysis of the results suggests the existence of a critical growing rate of the ferromagnetic phase, beyond which an avalanche effect is triggered.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2003

Low temperature irreversibility induced by thermal cycles on two prototypical phase separated manganites

We have studied the effect of irreversibility induced by repeated thermal cycles on the electric transport and magnetization of polycrystalline samples of La0.5Ca0.5MnO3 and La0.325Pr0.3Ca0.375MnO3. An increase of the resistivity and a decrease of the magnetization at different temperature ranges after cycling is obtained in the temperature range between 300 K and 30 K. Both compounds are known to exhibit intrinsic submicrometric coexistence of phases and undergo a sequence of phase transitions related to structural changes. Changes induced by thermal cycling can be partially inhibited by applying magnetic field and hydrostatic pressure. Our results suggest that the growth and coexistence of phases with different structures gives rise to microstructural tracks and strain accommodation, producing the observed irreversibility. Irrespective of the actual ground state of each compound, the effect of thermal cycling is towards an increase of the amount of the insulating phase in both compounds.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2003

Disorder effects at low temperatures in La_{0.7-x}Y_{x}Ca_{0.3}MnO_{3} manganites

With the aim of probing the effect of magnetic disorder in the low-temperature excitations of manganites, specific-heat measurements were performed in zero field, and in magnetic fields up to 9 T in polycrystalline samples of La_{0.7-x}Y_{x}Ca_{0.3}MnO_{3}, with Y concentrations x=0, 0.10, and 0.15. Yttrium doping yielded the appearance of a cluster-glass state, giving rise to unusual low-temperature behavior of the specific-heat. The main feature observed in the results is a strong enhancement of the specific-heat linear term, which is interpreted as a direct consequence of magnetic disorder. The analysis was further corroborated by resistivity measurements in the same compounds.

cond-mat↗

arXiv2003

Magneto-transport study of intra- and intergrain transitions in the magnetic superconductors RuSr2GdCu2O8 and RuSr2(Gd1.5Ce0.5)Cu2O10

A characterization of the magnetic superconductors RuSr2GdCu2O8 [Ru-(1212)] and RuSr2(Gd1.5Ce0.5)Cu2O10 [Ru-(1222)] through resistance measurements as a function of temperature and magnetic field is presented. Two peaks in the derivative of the resistive curves are identified as intra- and intergrain superconducting transitions. Strong intragrain granularity effects are observed, and explained by considering the antiphase boundaries between structural domains of coherently rotated RuO6 octahedra as intragrain Josephson-junctions. A different field dependence of the intragrain transition temperature in these compounds was found. For Ru-(1212) it remains unchanged up to 0.1 T, decreasing for higher fields. In Ru-(1222) it smoothly diminishes with the increase in field even for a value as low as 100 Oe. These results are interpreted as a consequence of a spin-flop transition of the Ru moments. The large separation between the RuO2 layers in Ru-(1222) promotes a weak interlayer coupling, leading the magnetic transition to occur at lower fields. The suppression rate of the intragrain transition temperature is about five times higher for Ru-(1222), a result we relate to an enhancement of the 2D character of the vortex structure. A distinctive difference with conventional cuprates is the sharp increase in amplitude of the intergrain peak in both systems, as the field is raised, which is ascribed to percolation through a fraction of high quality intergrain junctions.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2002

Persistent magnetoresistive memory in phase separated manganites

We have studied magnetic and transport properties on different manganese oxide based compounds exhibiting phase separation: polycrystalline La5/8-yPryCa3/8MnO3 (y=0.3) and La1/2Ca1/2Mn1-zFezO3 (z = 0.05), and single crystals of La5/8-yPryCa3/8MnO3 (y=0.35). Time dependent effects indicate that the fractions of the coexisting phases are dynamically changing in a definite temperature range. We found that in this range the ferromagnetic fraction f can be easily tuned by application of low magnetic fields (< 1 T). The effect is persistent after the field is turned off, thus the field remains imprinted in the actual value of f and can be recovered through transport measurements. This effect is due both to the existence of a true phase separated equilibrium state with definite equilibrium fraction f0, and to the slow growth dynamics. The fact that the same global features were found on different compounds and in polycrystalline and single crystalline samples, suggests that the effect is a general feature of some phase separated media.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2002

Non-volatile magnetoresistive memory in phase separated La$_{0.325}$Pr$_{0.300}$Ca$_{0.375}$MnO$_3$

We have measured magnetic and transport response on the polycrystalline La$_{5/8-y}$Pr$_y$Ca$_{3/8}$MnO$_3$ ($y=0.30$, average grain size 2 microns) compound. In the temperature range where ferromagnetic metallic and insulating regions coexist we observed a persistent memory of low magnetic fields ($<$ 1 T) which is determined by the actual amount of the ferromagnetic phase. The possibility to manipulate this fraction with relatively small external perturbations is related to the phase separated nature of these manganese oxide based compounds. The colossal magnetoresistance figures obtained (about 80%) are determined by the fraction enlargement mechanism. Self-shielding of the memory to external fields is found under certain described circumstances. We show that this non-volatile memory has multilevel capability associated with different applied low magnetic field values.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2001

Magnetization studies of phase separation in La$_{0.5}$Ca$_{0.5}$MnO$_{3}$

We present magnetization studies in a series of phase separated La$_{0.5}$Ca$%_{0.5}$MnO$_{3}$ samples, with different low temperature fractions of the ferromagnetic (FM) and charge ordered-antiferromagnetic (CO-AFM) phases. A particular experimental procedure probes the effect of the magnetic field applied while cooling the samples, which promotes FM fraction enlargement and enhances the melting of the CO phase. The response of the system depending on its magnetic field history indicates the existence of three different regimes in the phase separated state which develops below T$_{C}$. Our data allows us to identify the onset temperature below which the system becomes magnetic and structurally phase separated, and an onset field above which FM fraction enlargement occurs.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2001

Magnetic relaxation phenomena and cluster glass properties of La{0.7-x}Y{x}Ca{0.3}MnO{3} manganites

The dynamic magnetic properties of the distorted perovskite system La{0.7-x}Y{x}Ca{0.3}MnO{3} (0 <= x <= 0.15) have been investigated by ac-susceptibility and dc magnetization measurements, with emphasis on relaxation and aging studies. They evidence for x >= 0.10 the appearance of a metallic cluster glass phase, that develops just below the ferromagnetic transition temperature. The clusters grow with decreasing temperature down to a temperature T(f0) at which they freeze due to severe intercluster frustration. The formation of these clusters is explained by the presence of yttrium induced local structural distortions that create localized spin disorder in a magnetic lattice where double-exchange ferromagnetism is dominant.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2000

Controlled Phase Separation in La_0.5 Ca_0.5 Mn O_3

A systematic study of phase separation effects in polycrystalline La_0.5 Ca_0.5 Mn O_3 obtained under different thermal treatments is reported. Samples with average grain size ranging from 200 to 1300 nm were studied. Magnetic and electrical measurements show quantitative differences among samples in their low temperature behavior. indicating that the fraction of the ferromagnetic (FM) phase gradually decreases as the grain size increase. Percolation of the FM phase in samples with a small fraction of this phase suggests that grain boundaries play a distinctive role in the spatial distribution of coexisting phases. The defective structure at the grain surface could explain the local inhibition of the antiferromagnetic charge ordered phase, an effect that is gradually removed with increasing grain size. Qualitative agreement of the data with this description is found. This effect is also found to be highly dependent on the oxygen content of the samples and its spatial distribution.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2000

Static critical behavior of the ferromagnetic transition in LaMnO3.14 manganite

The ferromagnetic phase transition in LaMnO3.14 is investigated by measuring the dc magnetization as a function of magnetic field and temperature. Modified Arrott plot and Kouvel Fisher analysis yield estimates for the critical exponents beta, and gama, with values between that predicted for the Heisenberg model and mean field theory. At low fields we found an anomalous small value of beta, indicating that the critical behavior is influenced by the range of magnetic fields used.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2000

Low-temperature specific heat of La0.78Pb0.22MnO3-d manganite

The specific heat of the perovskite manganite La0.78Pb0.22MnO3-d was measured from 0.5 to 25 K. The results yield values of the electronic density of states, the Debye temperature, and the spin-wave stiffness constant of the compound. The magnetic contribution was found to be consistent with the existence of a gap in the spin-wave spectrum, and a phonon term in T^5 was needed to fit the data.

cond-mat.str-el↗