Dynamical mean-field theory of a simplified double-exchange model

Simplified double-exchange model including transfer of the itinerant electrons with spin parallel to the localized spin in the same site and the indirect interaction J of kinetic type between localized spins is comprihensively investigated. The model is exactly solved in infinite dimensions. The exact equations describing the main ordered phases (ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic) are obtained for the Bethe lattice with (z is the coordination number) in analytical form. The exact expression for the generalized paramagnetic susceptibility of the localized-spin subsystem is also obtained in analytical form. It is shown that temperature dependence of the uniform and the staggered susceptibilities has deviation from Curie-Weiss law. Dependence of Curie and Néel temperatures on itinerant-electron concentration is discussed to study instability conditions of the paramagnetic phase. Anomalous temperature behaviour of the chemical potential, the thermopower and the specific heat is investigated near the Curie point. It is found for J=0 that the system is unstable towards temperature phase separation between ferromagnetic and paramagnetic states. A phase separation connected with antiferromagnetic and the paramagnetic phases can occur only at . Zero-temperature phase diagram including the phase separation between ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic states is given. Received 28 May 1999 and Received in final form 14 July 1999     

Reentrant spin glass behaviour in Nd0.84K0.12MnO3

Polycrystalline Nd_0.84K_0.12MnO₃ was prepared in single phase form with Pbnm space group. The magnetic properties are studied from magnetization, linear and non-linear susceptibility, and thermoremanent magnetization measurements. The sample exhibits paramagnetic to ferromagnetic transition followed by low temperature spin glass like transition. From frequency variation of ac susceptibility measurements, the spin glass transition temperature is found to be 97.6±0.1 K with critical exponents zυ=1.13±0.06. The critical exponent γ corresponding to spin glass transition has been determined from the third harmonic susceptibility analysis and it is found to be 3.09±0.05. The effective number of spins blocked under frustration and their correlation length are determined from the analysis of thermoremanent magnetization.     

AC susceptibility enhancement studies in magnetic systems

Enhancement of AC susceptibility has been observed for typical ferromagnets (Gd), reentrant spin glasses like (Fe_1.5Mn_1.5Si) and canted spin systems (Ce(Fe_0.96Al_0.04)₂). The data have been interpreted with the help of a simulation model based on dry friction-like pinning of domain walls for systems having ferromagnetic domain structures. A strong pinning mechanism appears in the reentrant spin glass like and canted spin systems at low temperatures in addition to the intrinsic one in the ferromagnetic phase. The temperature variation of the pinning potential has been given qualitatively for the reentrant spin glass like systems.     

Electronic structure and spin fluctuations in the helical ferromagnet MnSi

The influence of spin fluctuations on the magnetic properties of the ferromagnetic helimagnet MnSi has been studied in the Hubbard model taking into account the antisymmetric relativistic Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction for band electrons. The obtained equations of the magnetic state indicate the correlation between the fine structure of the density of electronic states and the magnetization and coefficient of mode–mode coupling. It has been shown that the position of the Fermi energy in the immediate proximity on the point of the local minimum of the density of electronic states leads to large zero spin fluctuations at low magnetization of the helimagnet. When approaching from down the Néel point (approximately, at 0.9T_N), the zero fluctuation disappear, and the temperature rise of thermal spin fluctuation is accompanied by the change in the sign of the coefficient of mode–mode coupling. A magnetic field perpendicular to the helicoids plane brings about the formation and subsequent “collapse” of the helimagnetic cone. However, the condition of the change in the sign of the coefficient of mode–mode coupling divides the MnSi phase diagram into two parts, one of which corresponds to the ferromagnetic state induced by the field, and the other corresponding to the paramagnetic state. In this case, the h–T diagram has a specific region, inside which the paramagnetic and the ferromagnetic state are instable. The boundaries of the region agree with the experimental data on the boundaries of the anomalous phase (a phase). It has been found that the results of calculations of the temperature dependence of the magnetic susceptibility agree with the experimental data.     

Linear and nonlinear AC susceptibility studies in La(Mn1−xCux)O3

The linear and nonlinear AC susceptibility as a function of temperature were measured on LaMn_1−xCu_xO₃ compounds for x=0.05–0.30$x=0.05–0.30$. Samples with x?0.10$x?0.10$ exhibit paramagnetic to ferromagnetic transitions followed by low temperature spin glass like transition. The linear susceptibility exhibits strong frequency dependence and is analyzed in terms of standard theoretical model for spin glass. The magnitude and peak temperature of nonlinear susceptibility vary with AC field amplitudes. They are analyzed in terms of critical behaviour in the vicinity of spin glass transition temperature and the critical exponent is found to be 3.2.     

Frustrated exchange interactions formation at low temperatures and high hydrostatic pressures in La<Subscript>0.70</Subscript>Sr<Subscript>0.30</Subscript>Mn<Subscript>O2.85</Subscript>

The magnetic and thermal properties of the anion-deficient La_0.70Sr_0.30MnO_2.85 manganite are investigated in wide temperature (4–350 K) range, including under hydrostatic pressure (0–1.1 GPa). Throughout the pressure range investigated, the sample is spin glass with diffused phase transition into paramagnetic state. It is established, that spin glass state is a consequence of exchange interaction frustration of the ferromagnetic clusters embeded into antiferromagnetic clusters. The magnetic moment freezing temperature T _f of ferromagnetic clusters increases under pressure, freezing temperature dependence on pressure is characterized by derivative value ∼4.5 K/GPa, while the magnetic ordering T _MO temperature dependence is characterized by derivative value ∼13 K/GPa. The volume fraction of sample having ferromagnetic state is V _fer ∼ 13% and it increases under a pressure of 1.1 GPa by ΔV _fer ≈ 6%. Intensification of ferromagnetic properties of the anion-deficient La_0.70Sr_0.30MnO_2.85 manganite under hydrostatic pressure is a consequence of oxygen vacancies redistribution and unit cell parameters decrease. The most likely mechanism of frustrated exchange interactions formation is discussed.     

Study of magnetotransport in double-layered La1.4Ca1.6Mn2O7 manganite: Presence of nano-ferromagnetic domains in paramagnetic matrix

Double-layered manganite La_1.4Ca_1.6Mn₂O₇ has been synthesized using the solid-state reaction method. It had a metal-to-insulator transition at temperature T_M1≈127 K. The temperature dependence of ac susceptibility showed a broad ferromagnetic transition. The two-dimensional (2D)-ferromagnetic ordering temperature (T_C2) was observed as ≈245 K. The temperature dependence of its low-field magnetoresistance has been studied. The low-field magnetoresistance of double-layered manganite, in the temperature regions between T_M1 and T_C2, has been found to follow 1/T⁵. The observed behaviour of temperature dependence of resistivity and low-field magnetoresistance has been explained in terms of two-phase model where ferromagnetic domains exist in the matrix of paramagnetic regions in which spin-dependent tunneling of charge carriers occurs between the ferromagnetic correlated regions. Based on the two-phase model, the dimension of these ferromagnetic domains inside the paramagnetic matrix has been estimated as ∼12 Å.     

Influence of temperature on critical fields in ZnCr2Se4

The complex ac dynamic magnetic susceptibility was used to study the influence of temperature on critical fields in polycrystalline ZnCr₂Se₄ spinel. An antiferromagnetic order with a Néel temperature T_N=20.7 K and a strong ferromagnetic exchange evidenced by a positive Curie-Weiss temperature θ_CW=55.1 K were established. An increasing static magnetic field shifts T_N to lower temperatures while a susceptibility peak at T_m in the paramagnetic region—to higher temperatures. The non-zero and negative values both of the second and third harmonics of susceptibility suggest only a parallel spin coupling in ferromagnetic clusters in the range between the Néel and Curie-Weiss temperatures. Below T_N the magnetic field dependence of susceptibility, χ_ac(H), shows two peaks at critical fields H_c1 and H_c2. The values of H_c1 decrease slightly with temperature while the values of H_c2 drop rapidly with temperature. The strong changes of H_c2 temperature induced are mainly responsible for a spin frustration of the re-entrant type in the spinel under study.     

Spin Glass Behavior in a Decagonal Quasicrystal Al-Mn-Fe-Ge System

The magnetic behavior of a decagonal quasicrystal Al₄₀Mn₂₅Fe₁₅Ge₂₀ system has been investigated by Mössbauer spectroscopy, magnetization and AC susceptibility measurements. Magnetization measured at low fields as a function of temperature shows a cusp-like peak around 41K. AC susceptibility also shows a sharp cusp, and the cusp shifts to a higher temperature as the frequency increases. These results strongly suggested that Al₄₀Mn₂₅Fe₁₅Ge₂₀ is a spin glass system with T _g =41K. From the temperature dependence of the Mössbauer spectrum, we observed the appearance of a hyperfine field below around 50K. The temperature is a little higher than the cusp temperature, which is rather usual in spin glass systems.     

Electrical and magnetic properties of pseudo-one-dimensional calcium iridium oxide Ca5Ir3O12

The electrical and magnetic properties of one-dimensional calcium iridium oxide Ca₅Ir₃O₁₂ are investigated. A weak ferromagnetic transition has been found at 7.5 K through magnetic susceptibility measurements. At the same temperature, a λ-type specific heat anomaly has been observed. The effective magnetic moments in the paramagnetic temperature range and the magnetic entropy due to the magnetic transition indicates that the tetravalent and pentavalent Ir ions exist in the ratio of 1:2. Another λ-type anomaly has been observed at 105 K in the temperature dependence of the specific heat. The electrical conductivity shows one-dimensional Mott variable-range hopping conduction behavior.     

Hydrostatic pressure effects on the magnetic susceptibility of ruthenium oxide Sr3Ru2O7: evidence for pressure-enhanced antiferromagnetic instability

Hydrostatic pressure effects on the temperature- and magnetic field dependencies of the in-plane and out-of-plane magnetization of the bi-layered perovskite Sr₃Ru₂O₇ have been studied by SQUID magnetometer measurements under a hydrostatic helium-gas pressure. The anomalously enhanced low-temperature value of the paramagnetic susceptibility has been found to systematically decrease with increasing pressure. The effect is accompanied by an increase of the temperature T_max of a pronounced peak of susceptibility. Thus, magnetization measurements under hydrostatic pressure reveal that the lattice contraction in the structure of Sr₃Ru₂O₇ promotes antiferromagnetism and not ferromagnetism. The effects can be explained by the enhancement of the inter-bi-layer antiferromagnetic spin coupling, driven by the shortening of the superexchange path, and suppression, due to the band-broadening effect, of competing itinerant ferromagnetic correlations.     

Magnetic properties of Nd1−xKxMnO3 compounds

Polycrystalline Nd_1−xK_xMnO₃ (x=0.10–0.20) compounds have been prepared in single phase form with Pbnm space group. The magnetic properties were studied by measuring dc magnetization and ac susceptibility. They exhibit paramagnetic to ferromagnetic transition with transition temperature ranging from 116 to 128 K. The magnetization data have been analyzed by using Brillouin function model and by taking into account the ferromagnetic interaction. The effective spin contribution towards ferromagnetic interaction and spin canting angle have been estimated. The spin canting angle is found to decrease with increase in doping. Magneto-caloric effect (MCE) has been studied and the maximum change in entropy was found to be 1.76 J/kg K for 1 T field. Metal–insulator transition and colossal magnetoresistance of the order of 60% for 1 T field have been observed for x=0.20 sample.     

Spin fluctuations in metals: Application to the actinides

We present here a review of the spin fluctuation theory and of its applications to transition and actinide systems, with a particular emphasis to the latter where some very anomalous properties find an explanation in terms of spin fluctuation effects. Firstly, we summarize the development of the spin fluctuation model which had been initially applied to transition metals and alloys such as palladium or Pd–Ni alloys. Then, we present the extension of the paramagnon model to nearly magnetic actinide systems by taking into account explicitly the temperature dependence of the Stoner susceptibility, because the 5f-band of actinides is much narrower than the d-band of transition metals. As a result the paramagnon contribution to the resistivity departs from the usual T ² and T power laws at temperatures higher than the spin fluctuation one and saturates at high temperatures, with eventually the presence of a maximum at intermediate temperatures. We present also the calculation of the other properties of actinide systems, namely the thermal resistivity, the thermoelectric power, the magnetic susceptibility, the specific heat capacity and the NMR relaxation rate, which are generally enhanced by the presence of paramagnons. Finally, we have introduced the concept of ‘antiferromagnetic-like’ spin fluctuations which have a maximum of the q-dependent susceptibility _χ(q) at a q value different from q =0, in contrast to the regular ferromagnetic spin fluctuations; both types of spin fluctuation give the same resistivity behaviour, while they yield a markedly different behaviour of the magnetic susceptibility, in agreement with experiment. The spin fluctuation theory is applied successfully to the different properties of neptunium and plutonium metals and of many nearly magnetic compounds such as UAl₂.     

Effect of annealing treatment on the magnetic properties of mechanochemical synthesized La0.8Pb0.2MnO3 manganites

In this paper, we have investigated the effect of annealing on structural and magnetic properties of La_0.8Pb_0.2MnO₃ (LPMO) polycrystalline samples. Mechanochemical procedure has been used to produce LPMO nanocrystalline samples from oxide precursors. From the AC susceptibility measurements we found that the magnitude of susceptibility increases and the paramagnetic–ferromagnetic (PM–FM) transition width decreases by annealing the ball milled powders. Also, reentrant spin glass (RSG) behavior has been found in high temperature annealed samples. It seems that, due to the evaporation of PbO in high temperature annealed samples, vacancies created in perovskite structure and portion of the Mn³⁺–O–Mn⁴⁺ network is broken. So the FM double-exchange interaction is weakened due to the magnetic dilution and the antiferromagnetc (AFM) phase fraction increases in high temperature annealed samples. The competition between FM double-exchange interaction and AFM super-exchange interaction produces spin frustration and is responsible for the occurrence of RSG.     

Magnetic phases of amorphous transition metal-metalloid alloys

Hysteresis loop and ac susceptibility measurements were performed on three series of amorphous alloys: (A_wB_1-w)₇₅P₁₆B₆Al₃, where (A, B) are (Fe, Ni), (Co, Ni) and (Fe, Mn). Upon cooling, low w alloys undergo paramagne t to spin glass transitions. Alloys with higher w first experience a Curie transition to a ferromagnetic state, and then a spin freezing transition to a spin glass state. the T dependence of the width of the ac hysteresis loop is used to determine the spin freezing transition temperature. A magnetic phase diagram is presented for each alloy series and the value of w required for ferromagnetism, w_C, is determined. When measured in the presence of small constant fields, the ac susceptibility of alloys with w just above w_C has maxima near both transition temperatures. The field and temperature dependences of the peaks are explained by scaling arguments, used to determine the critical exponent δ for the Curie transition, and suggest that a similar scaling law holds for the ferromagnet to spin glass transition.     

Monte-Carlo study of correlations in quantum spin chains at non-zero temperature

Antiferromagnetic Heisenberg spin chains with various spin values (S=1/2,1,3/2,2,5/2) are studied numerically with the quantum Monte-Carlo method. Effective spin S chains are realized by ferromagnetically coupling n=2S antiferromagnetic spin chains with S=1/2. The temperature dependence of the uniform susceptibility, the staggered susceptibility, and the static structure factor peak intensity are computed down to very low temperatures, . The correlation length at each temperature is deduced from numerical measurements of the instantaneous spin-spin correlation function. At high temperatures, very good agreement with exact results for the classical spin chain is obtained independent of the value of S. For the S=2 chain which has a gap , the correlation length and the uniform susceptibility in the temperature range are well predicted by the semi-classical theory of Damle and Sachdev. Received: 23 December 1997 / Revised and Accepted: 11 March 1998     

Model glasses coupled to two different heat baths

In a p-spin interaction spherical spin-glass model both the spins and the couplings are allowed to change with time. The spins are coupled to a heat bath with temperature T, while the coupling constants are coupled to a bath having temperature T_J. In an adiabatic limit (where relaxation time of the couplings is much larger that of the spins) we construct a generalized two-temperature thermodynamics. It involves entropies of the spins and the coupling constants. The application for spin-glass systems leads to a standard replica theory with a non-vanishing number of replicas, n=T/T _J . For p>2 there occur at low temperatures two different glassy phases, depending on the value of n. The obtained first-order transitions have positive latent heat, and positive discontinuity of the total entropy. This is an essentially non-equilibrium effect. The dynamical phase transition exists only for n<1. For p=2 correlation of the disorder (leading to a non-zero n) removes the known marginal stability of the spin glass phase. If the observation time is very large there occurs no finite-temperature spin glass phase. In this case there are analogies with the non-equilibrium (aging) dynamics. A generalized fluctuation-dissipation relation is derived. Received 12 July 1999 and Received in final form 8 December 1999     

Weak ferromagnetism in copper metaborate CuB2O4

CuB₂O₄ single crystals have been grown and their magnetic and resonance properties have been investigated for the first time. The temperature dependence of the susceptibility was found to contain features at T=21 and 10 K. The CuB₂O₄ single crystal transformed at T=21 K to a weakly ferromagnetic state. The sharp drop in susceptibility at T<10 K is caused by a transition of the magnetic system of CuB₂O₄ to an antiferromagnetic state. The effective magnetic moment of the Cu₂₊ ion, determined from the high-temperature part of the magnetic susceptibility, is 1.77 μ _B. The room-temperature g factors are, respectively, 2.170 and 2.133 for magnetic field parallel and perpendicular to the c axis of the crystal. The antiferromagnetic resonance parameters in the weakly ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic phases were measured. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 41, 1267–1271 (July 1999)     

Low temperature nonequilibrium dynamics in transverse Ising spin glass

The real part of the time-dependent ac susceptibility of the short-range Ising spin glass in a transverse field has been investigated at very low temperatures. We have used the quantum linear response theory and domain coarsening ideas of quantum droplet scaling theory. It is found that after a temperature quench to a temperature T ₁ (lower than the spin glass transition temperature T _g ) the ac susceptibility decreases with time approximately in a logarithmic way as the system tends to the equilibrium. It is shown that the transverse field of tunneling has unessential effect on the nonequilibrium dynamical properties of the magnetic droplet system. The role of quantum fluctuations in the behavior of the ac susceptibility is discussed.Received: 26 February 2004, Published online: 18 June 2004PACS: 75.40.Gb Dynamic properties (dynamic susceptibility, spin waves, spin diffusion, dynamic scaling, etc.) - 75.10.Nr Spin-glass and other random models - 75.50.Lk Spin glasses and other random magnets