arXiv subjects

X. N. Lin

Publications and source records attributed to X. N. Lin.

12 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2006

Specific Heat of (Ca1-xSrx)3Ru2O7 Single Crystals

We have measured the specific heat of crystals of (Ca1-xSrx)3Ru2O7 using ac- and relaxation-time calorimetry. Special emphasis was placed on the characterization of the Neel (TN=56 K) and structural (Tc = 48 K) phase transitions in the pure, x=0 material. While the latter is believed to be first order, detailed measurements under different experimental conditions suggest that all the latent heat (with L ~ 0.3 R) is being captured in a broadened peak in the effective heat capacity. The specific heat has a mean-field-like step at TN, but its magntitude (Delta cP ~ R) is too large to be associated with a conventional itinerant electron (e.g. spin-density-wave) antiferromagnetic transition, while its entropy is too small to be associated with full ordering of localized spins. The TN transition broadens with Sr substitution while its magnitude decreases slowly. On the other hand, the entropy change associated with the Tc transition decreases rapidly with Sr substitution and is not observable for our x=0.58 sample.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2006

Borderline magnetism in Sr4Ru3O10: Impact of dilute La and Ca doping on itinerant ferromagnetism and metamagnetism

An investigation of La and Ca doped Sr4Ru3O10, featuring a coexistence of interlayer ferromagnetism and intralayer metamagnetism, is presented. La doping readily changes magnetism between ferromagnetism and metamagnetism by tuning the density of states. It also results in different Curie temperatures for the c-axis and the basal plane, highlighting a rare spin-orbit coupling with the crystal field states. In contrast, Ca doping enhances the c-axis ferromagnetism and the magnetic anisotropy. La doping also induces a dimensional crossover in the interlayer transport whereas Ca doping exhibits a tunneling magnetoresistance and an extraordinary T3/2-dependence of the resisitivity. The drastic changes caused by the dilute doping demonstrate a rare borderline magnetism that is delicately linked to the interplay of the density of states and spin-orbit coupling.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2005

Itinerant Ferromagnetism and Metamagnetism in Cr Doped Perovskite Ruthenates

We report results of structural, magnetic and transport properties of single crystal CaRu1-xCrxO3 (0≤x≤0.36) and SrRu1-xCrxO3 (0≤x≤0.30). Cr substitution as low as x=0.08 drives CaRu1-xCrxO3 from the paramagnetic state to an itinerant ferromagnetic state with field-driven first-order metamagnetic transitions leading to a sizeable saturation moment (~0.4B/f.u.within the ab plane). The ferromagnetism occurs abruptly and reaches as high as TC=123 K for x=0.22. The Cr-driven ferromagnetism is highly anisotropic, suggesting an important role for spin-orbit coupling. Lattice constant and magnetic measurements strongly support the valence of the Cr as tetravalent (Cr4+, 3d2 configuration). Cr substitution for Ru in SrRuO3 (TC=165 K) enhances the itinerant ferromagnetism, with TC reaching 290 K for x=0.30, consistent with Cr-induced ferromagnetism in paramagnetic CaRuO3. Preliminary pressure-dependent magnetization of CaRu0.85Cr0.15O3 shows strong enhancement of the saturation magnetization (25% for P~0.7 GPa). All results indicate a coupling of Ru 4d and Cr 3d electrons that is unexpectedly favorable for itinerant ferromagnetism which often exists delicately in the ruthenates.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2005

Observation of oscillatory magnetoresistance periodic in 1/B and B in Ca3Ru2O7

We report magnetoresistance oscillations in high magnetic fields, B, up to 45 T and over a wide range of temperature in the Mott-like system Ca3Ru2O7. For B rotating within the ac-plane, slow and strong Shubnikov-de Haas (SdH) oscillations periodic in 1/B are observed for T≤1.5 K in the presence of metamagnetism. These oscillations are highly angular dependent and intimately correlated with the spin-polarization of the ferromagnetic state. For B||[110], oscillations are also observed but periodic in B (rather than 1/B) which persist up to 15 K. While the SdH oscillations are a manifestation of the presence of small Fermi surface (FS) pockets in the Mott-like system, the B-periodic oscillations, an exotic quantum phenomenon, may be a result of anomalous coupling of the magnetic field to the t2g-orbitals that makes the extremal cross-section of the FS field-dependent.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2005

Thermal and Magnetic Properties of the Spin-Chain Material, Pr3RuO7

We present measurements of the magnetic moment and specific heat of single crystals of the spin-chain insulator, Pr3RuO7. The susceptibility indicates that three-dimensional antiferromagnetic order sets in at TN = 54 K, with spin polarization approximately along the chain direction, but the susceptibility anisotropy above TN indicates that the intrachain interactions are predominantly ferromagnetic while the interchain interactions are antiferromagnetic. This competition presumably gives rise to the observed metamagnetic behavior for applied fields along the polarization direction. The specific heat anomaly at TN is unusually mean-field in shape, with magnitude indicating that the transition involves mostly ordering of the ruthenium moments. A Schottky-like anomaly at low temperature may be due to praesodynium ions ordering in the effective field established at TN.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2005

Colossal Magnetoresistance by Avoiding a Ferromagnetic State in the Mott System Ca3Ru2O7

Transport and magnetic studies of Ca3Ru2O7 for temperatures ranging from 0.4 K to 56 K and magnetic fields, B, up to 45 T leads to strikingly different behavior when the field is applied along the different crystal axes. A ferromagnetic (FM) state with full spin polarization is achieved for B||a-axis, but colossal magnetoresistance is realized only for B||b-axis. For B||c-axis, Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations are observed and followed by a less resistive state than for B||a. Hence, in contrast to standard colossal magnetoresistive materials, the FM phase is the least favorable for electron hopping. These properties together with highly unusual spin-charge-lattice coupling near the Mott transition (48 K) are driven by the orbital degrees of freedom.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2004

From itinerant ferromagnetism to insulating antiferromagnetism: A magnetic and transport study of single crystal SrRu1-xMnxO3

We report results of a magnetic and transport study of SrRu1-xMnxO3, i.e., Mn doped SrRuO3. The Mn doping drives the system from the itinerant ferromagnetic state (TC=165 K for x=0) through a quantum critical point at xc=0.39 to an insulating antiferromagnetic state. The onset of antiferromagnetism is abrupt with a Neel temperature increasing from 205 K for x=0.44 to 250 K for x=0.59. Accompanying this quantum phase transition is a drastic change in resistivity by as much as 8 orders of magnitude as a function of x at low temperatures. The critical composition xc=0.39 sharply separates the two distinct ground states, namely the ferromagnetic metal from the antiferromagnetic insulator.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2004

Orbitally-driven Behavior: Mott Transition, Quantum Oscillations and Colossal Magnetoresistance in Bilayered Ca3Ru2O7

We report recent transport and thermodynamic experiments over a wide range of temperatures for the Mott-like system Ca3Ru2O7 at high magnetic fields, B, up to 30 T. This work reveals a rich and highly anisotropic phase diagram, where applying B along the a-, b-, and c-axis leads to vastly different behavior. A fully spin-polarized state via a first order metamagnetic transition is obtained for B||a, and colossal magnetoresistance is seen for B||b, and quantum oscillations in the resistivity are observed for B||c, respectively. The interplay of the lattice, orbital and spin degrees of freedom are believed to give rise to this strongly anisotropic behavior.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2004

Specific Heat of Sr4Ru3O10

We have measured the specific heat of single crystals of the triple-layer Ruddlesden-Popper material, Sr4Ru3O10, grown both in an image furnace and by flux-growth. The flux grown sample has a sharp mean-field-like anomaly at the onset of magnetic order, Tc = 102 K, but a much broader anomaly, indicative of residual heterogeneity, is observed for the image furnace sample. Even for the flux grown sample, however, the anomaly is at least an order of magnitude smaller than one would expect for complete ordering of the spins. Neither sample exhibits an anomaly at Tm ~ 50 K, where magnetic measurements suggest that basal plane antiferromagnetism sets in. Anomalous behavior (e.g. consistent with a term in the specific heat ~ T^3/2 as would be observed for a three-dimensional ferromagnet with weak exchange) is observed at low temperatures for both samples, indicative of the unusual magnetic order in this material.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2003

High-temperature weak ferromagnetism on the verge of a metallic state: Impact of dilute Sr-doping on BaIrO3

The 5d-electron based BaIrO3 is a nonmetallic weak ferromagnet with a Curie temperature at Tc=175 K. Its largely extended orbitals generate strong electron-lattice coupling, and magnetism and electronic structure are thus critically linked to the lattice degree of freedom. Here we report results of our transport and magnetic study on slightly Sr doped BaIrO3. It is found that dilute Sr-doping drastically suppresses Tc, and instantaneously leads to a nonmetal-metal transition at high temperatures. All results highlight the instability of the ground state and the subtle relation between magnetic ordering and electron mobility. It is clear that BaIrO3 along with very few other systems represents a class of materials where the magnetic and transport properties can effectively be tuned by slight alterations in lattice parameters.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2003

Violation of the Mott-Ioffe-Regel Limit: High-temperature Resistivity of Itinerant Magnets Srn+1RunO3n+1 (n=2,3,infinity) and CaRuO3

Srn+1RunO3n+1 represents a class of layered materials whose physical properties are a strong function of the number of Ru-O layers per unit cell, n. This series includes the p-wave superconductor Sr2RuO4 (n=1), enhanced paramagnetic Sr3Ru2O7 (n=2), nearly ferromagnetic Sr4Ru3O10 (n=3) and itinerant ferromagnetic SrRuO3 (n=infinity). In spite of a wide spectrum of physical phenomena, this series of materials along with paramagnetic CaRuO3 shares two major characteristics, namely, robust Fermi liquid behavior at low temperatures and anomalous transport behavior featured by linear temperature dependence of resistivity at high temperature where electron wavepackets are no longer clearly defined. There is no crossover separating such two fundamentally different states. In this paper, we report results of our study that systematically addresses anisotropy and temperature dependence of basal-plane and c-axis resistivity as a function of n for the entire Srn+1RunO3n+1 series and CaRuO3 and for a wide temperature range of 1.7 K<T<900 K. It is found that the anomalous transport behavior correlates with magnetic susceptibility and becomes stronger with decreasing dimensionality. Implications of these results are discussed.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2003

Field-tuned Collapse of an Orbital Ordered and Spin-polarized State: Colossal Magnetoresistance in Bilayered Ruthenate

Ca3Ru2O7 with a Mott-like transition at 48 K features different in-plane anisotropies of magnetization and magnetoresistance. Applying magnetic field along the magnetic easy-axis precipitates a spin-polarized state via a first-order metamagnetic transition, but does not lead to a full suppression of the Mott state, whereas applying magnetic field along the magnetic hard axis does, causing a resistivity reduction of three orders of magnitude. The colossal magnetoresistivity is attributed to the collapse of the orbital ordered and spin-polarized state. Evidence for a density wave is also presented.

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