Magnetotransport coefficients of Sm0.55Sr0.45MnO3

Measurements of resistivity, magnetization, Seebeck coefficient in 0 and 1.5 T and Nernst coeffecient in 0.3, 0.9 and 1.8 T as a function of temperature on a polycrystalline sample Sm_0.55Sr_0.45MnO₃ are presented. The data demonstrate that an increase in both the carrier density and the mobility of the charge carriers is responsible for the observed colossal magnetoresistance in this compound.     

Magnetic and magnetocaloric properties of perovskite manganite Pr0.55Sr0.45MnO3

In this paper, we have studied the magnetic and magnetocaloric properties of the perovskite manganite Pr_0.55Sr_0.45MnO₃. It shows a sharp paramagnetic-ferromagnetic phase transition at 291 K and possesses a moderate magnetic entropy change near room temperature. In addition, a large relative cooling power (143.64 J/kg) and a wide temperature range (84 K) have been found in this material. Compare with the Landau model, we find that the itinerant electrons mainly contribute the larger magnetic entropy change at paramagnetic region.     

An investigation of phase separation by magnetic force microscopy in La0.45Sr0.55MnO3-δ(δ≈0.01)

We have found phase separation in La_0.45Sr_0.55MnO_3-δ (LSMO) by means of electron spin resonance, magnetic force microscopy (MFM) and magnetic measurements. Ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic phases can coexist at low temperatures, and ferromagnetic and paramagnetic phases coexist when the temperature lies between the Néel and Curie temperatures. The size and shape of the ferromagnetic phases (the minority phases) was first observed directly from MFM images. It is suggested that the phase separation in LSMO is not the charge segregation type, but an electroneutral type due perhaps to the nonuniform distribution of oxygen vacancies.     

Magnetic properties and Griffiths singularity in La0.45Sr0.55 Mn1−xCoxO3

The magnetic properties and the Griffiths singularity were investigated in Mn-site doped manganites of La_0.45Sr_0.55Mn_1−xCo_xO₃ (x=0, 0.05, 0.10 and 0.15) in this work. The parent sample La_0.45Sr_0.55MnO₃ undergoes a paramagnetic-ferromagnetic transition at T_C=290 K and a ferromagnetic-antiferromagnetic transition at T_N=191 K. The doping of Co ions enhances the ferromagnetism and suppresses the antiferromagnetism. The enhanced ferromagnetism results from the fact that the Co doping enhances the Mn³⁺-Mn⁴⁺ double-exchange interaction and induces the Co²⁺-Mn⁴⁺ ferromagnetic superexchange interaction. Detailed investigation on the magnetic behavior above T_C exhibits that the Griffiths singularity takes place in this series of Mn-site doped compounds. The correlated disorder induced by the Co ionic doping, together with the phase competition from the ferromagnetic and the antiferromagnetic interactions among Mn ions, is responsible for the Griffiths singularity.     

Gd0.55Sr0.45MnO3薄膜光诱导电阻变化特性研究

分别采用固相反应和脉冲激光沉积的方法制备了电荷-轨道有序态锰氧化物Gd_0.55Sr_0.45MnO₃块材和多晶薄膜, 研究了薄膜在光诱导作用下的电阻变化特性. 实验结果表明该薄膜在整个测量温度范围内表现出了半导体型导电特性. 利用变程跳跃模型拟合电阻温度关系可知, 其电荷有序态转变温度为70 K. 激光作用致使薄膜电阻减小, 当激光功率度为40 mW/mm²时, 最大光致电阻相对变化值可达99.8%, 且在8 s的时间内达到了平衡态, 温度对其影响很小; 当激光功率度为6 mW/mm²时, 获得的最大光致电阻相对变化值为44%, 而且时间常数随温度的升高而增大, 这主要是由于光诱导和热扰动共同作用的结果.     

Appearance of an inhomogeneous superconducting state in La0.67Sr0.33MnO3-YBa2Cu3O7-La0.67Sr0.33MnO3 trilayers

An experimental study of proximity effect in La_0.67Sr_0.33MnO₃-YBa₂CU₃O₇-La_0.67Sr_0.33MnO₃ trilayers is reported. Transport measurements on these samples show clear oscillations in critical current (I _c) as the thickness of La_0.67Sr_0.33MnO₃ layers (d _F) is scanned from ∼50 ? to ∼ 1100 ?. In the light of existing theories of ferromagnet-superconductor (FM-SC) heterostructures, this observation suggests a long range proximity effect in the manganite, modulated by its weak exchange energy (∼2 meV). The observed modulation of the magnetic coupling between the ferromagnetic LSMO layers as a function of d _F, also suggests an oscillatory behavior of the SC order parameter near the FM-SC interface.      

Fluctuations of the order parameter in R 0.55Sr0.45MnO3 manganites near the metal-insulator phase transition

The magnetic phase transformations induced by changes of the composition, external magnetic field strength, and temperature in manganites with a nearly half-filled conduction band in the vicinity of the metal-insulator phase transition have been investigated experimentally. It has been found that the substitution of rare-earth ions (Sm) for Nd ions with a larger ionic radius in R _0.55Sr_0.45MnO₃ manganites leads to a linear decrease in the Curie temperature T _C from 270 to 130 K and a transformation of the second-order ferromagnetic (FM) phase transition into a first-order phase transition. The results of measurements of the alternating-current (ac) magnetic susceptibility in the (Nd_{1 ? y} Sm _y )_0.55Sr_0.45MnO₃ system indicate the existence of a Griffiths-like phase in samples with a samarium concentration y > 0.5 in the temperature range T _C < T < T* (where T* ～ 220 K). For samples with y > 0.5, the magnetization isotherms at temperatures above T _C exhibit specific features in the form of reversible metamagnetic phase transitions associated with strong fluctuations of the short-range ferromagnetic order in the system of Mn spins in the high-temperature Griffiths phase consisting of ferromagnetic clusters. According to the results of measurements of the ac magnetic susceptibility in the (Sm_{1 ? y} Gd _y )_0.55Sr_0.45MnO₃ system for a gadolinium concentration y = 0.5, there is an antiferromagnetic (AFM) phase with an unusually low critical temperature of the spin ordering T _N ? 48.5 K. An increase in the external static magnetic field at 4.2 K leads to an irreversible induction of the ferromagnetic phase, which is stable in the temperature range 4.2–60 K. In the temperature range 60 K < T < 150 K, there exists a high-temperature Griffiths-like phase consisting of clusters (correlations) with a local charge/orbital ordering. The metastable antiferromagnetic structure is retained in samples with gadolinium concentrations y = 0.6 and 0.7, but it is destroyed with a further increase in the gadolinium concentration upon the transition to the spin-glass state. The magnetization isotherm obtained with variations in the external static magnetic field in the field range ±70 kOe at 4.2 K and the temperature dependence of the ac-magnetic susceptibility χ suggest that, in the Gd_0.55Sr_0.45MnO₃ ceramics, there is a mixed two-phase low-temperature state consisting of the quantum Griffiths phase with a characteristic divergence of χ(T) near T = 0, which was embedded in the spin-glass matrix with the spin “freezing” temperature T _G ? 42 K. The low-temperature state with quantum fluctuations exists in the (Sm_{1 ? y} Gd _y )_0.55Sr_0.45MnO₃ system for y ≥ 0.5.     

Specific heat of Sm0.55Sr0.45MnO3 manganite in magnetic fields up to 15 T: An anomalous critical behavior of the ferromagnet in magnetic field and the observation of a tricritical point

The specific heat of Sm_0.55Sr_0.45MnO₃ manganite is measured in the vicinity of the ferromagnetic phase transition in strong magnetic fields up to 15 T. An anomalous critical behavior of the Sm_0.55Sr_0.45MnO₃ ferromagnet in magnetic field is predicted and experimentally observed. The anomalous behavior manifests itself in that, in magnetic fields up to 4 T, the field favors fluctuations and the specific-heat anomaly increases with the field and sharpens, becoming λ-shaped. In fields above 4 T, the behavior becomes classical: the field suppresses the fluctuations and the specific-heat peak is smeared out. The hysteresis of the transition temperature measured in the heating and cooling runs is about 15 K in zero magnetic field. As the field increases, it narrows gradually and vanishes completely when the field reaches 4 T. The results of the experiments are explained in terms of the competition between the hysteresis and the fluctuations of the magnetic order parameter. The H-T phase diagram of Sm_0.55Sr_0.45MnO₃ certainly indicates that, at 4 T, Sm_0.55Sr_0.45MnO₃ has a tricritical point, at which the ferromagnetic and paramagnetic phases of Sm_0.55Sr_0.45MnO₃ are leveled.     

Magnetic and electronic structure studies of the perovskite oxide Nd2/3Sr1/3MnO3 from the first principle calculation

Generalized gradient approximation (GGA) and GGA + U (U denotes on-site Coulomb interactions) methods are applied to investigate the magnetic and electronic structures of the perovskite oxide Nd_2/3Sr_1/3MnO₃. Under GGA the compound prefers ferrimagnetic ordering in which Nd sublattice is spin-antiparallel to Mn sublattice. Nd 4f states cross over the Fermi level under GGA, leading the ferrimagnetic Nd_2/3Sr_1/3MnO₃ to a metallic character. The on-site Coulomb interactions should be included to emphasize the localized feature of Nd 4f states. Under GGA + U, the spins of Nd and Mn sublattices tend to be parallel in the ground state, and fully spin-polarized Mn 3d electrons yield a half-metallic band structure for the ferromagnetic Nd_2/3Sr_1/3MnO₃. The ferromagnetic coupling between Nd and Mn sublattices is ascribed to the super-exchange interaction between Nd 4f and Mn 3d (t2g) electrons via O 2p electrons.     

Electron spin resonance study of bulk and nanosized La0.875Sr0.125MnO3

The structural, transport and electron spin resonance properties of bulk and nanosized La_0.875Sr_0.125MnO₃ prepared by a sol-gel method have been investigated. The bulk sample has an orthorhombic structure and a ferromagnetic insulating ground state. The ESR spectra indicate the coexistence of the ferromagnetic insulating and ferromagnetic metallic phases below T_C. In addition to a sharp peak in the vicinity of T_C, another sharp peak close to is clearly observed in the intensity of the spectra, which may be correlated with the structural transition and orbital ordering at this temperature. For the nanosized sample, a drastically different behavior is found. With a rhombohedral structure down to 70 K, the nanosized sample shows a ferromagnetic metallic ground state. The ESR studies reveal the coexistence of the paramagnetic and ferromagnetic resonance signals. The resonance intensity shows a broad peak around 200 K, which may be due to the wide ferromagnetic transition in the nanoparticle.     

Evidence for instability in charge ordering Nd0.5Sr0.5MnO3

The transport properties and magnetic phase transitions of charge ordering manganites Nd_0.5Sr_0.5MnO₃ have been investigated. From resistivity measurements, a continuous increase of resistivity upon the thermal cycling occurs at , and shows an instable behavior in the system. The experimental results of magnetization and electron-spin-resonance spectra indicate that the ferromagnetic phase and antiferromagnetic phase coexist in a broad temperature region. We think that the origin of the instability stems from an inhomogeneous strain yielded in the ferromagnetic interface, due to the competition among different phases.     

Electrical and magnetic behavior of La0.7Ca0.3MnO3/La0.7Sr0.2Ca0.1MnO3 composites

The electrical transport properties and the magnetoresistance of La_0.7Ca_0.3MnO₃/La_0.7Sr_0.2Ca_0.1MnO₃ composites are investigated as a function of sintering temperature. On the basis of an analysis by X-ray powder diffraction and scanning electron microscopy we suggest that raising the sintering temperature enhanced the interfacial reaction and creates interfacial phases at the boundaries of the La_0.7Ca_0.3MnO₃ and La_0.7Sr_0.2Ca_0.1MnO₃. Results also show that in 3 kOe, and at the Curie temperature, the magnetoresistance value of 14% was observed for the composite sintered at 1300 °C. Based on the phenomenological equation for conductivity under a percolation approach, which depends on the phase segregation of ferromagnetic metallic clusters and paramagnetic insulating regions, we fitted the experimental resistivity—temperature data from 50-300 K and find that the activation barrier decreases as temperature is increased.     

Size-induced ferromagnetism and metallicity in Nd0.5Sr0.5MnO3 nanoparticles: A neutron diffraction study

The phenomenon of destabilization of antiferromagnetic insulating state into a ferromagnetic metallic one in Nd_0.5Sr_0.5MnO₃ with the variation of particle/grain size is critically investigated. Based on our neutron diffraction study, magnetic and transport experiments, we observe ferromagnetism and metallic behavior in Nd_0.5Sr_0.5MnO₃ (∼40 nm grain size) as against A-type antiferromagnetic order in the sample with the largest grain size (∼800 nm). The latter shows a systematic change in the lattice parameters with temperature, and an antiferromagnetic ground state similar to that of a bulk system. Interestingly, the sample with the smallest grain sizes exhibits insignificant structural changes (compared to the largest grain size sample) but a complete change in the magnetic state (ferromagnetic behavior) as revealed from the neutron diffraction study. Magnetic measurements also confirm a ferromagnetic state in the small-grained sample. Electronic transport measurements exhibit a metal-insulator transition in this sample. The effects are primarily attributed to enhanced surface disorder.     

Charge ordering in crystals of Pr1? x Sr x MnO3 ( x = 0.22, 0.24) ferromagnetic manganites

The structural and magnetic states of Pr_1−x Sr _x MnO₃ (x = 0.22, 0.24) manganite crystals were studied over a wide temperature range. Measurements of the magnetic susceptibility and electrical resistivity demonstrated that these manganites belong to the class of ferromagnetic semiconductors. Thermal neutron elastic scattering patterns revealed that, in the temperature range 4.2–350 K, the manganites have an orthorhombic structure (space group Pnma) with a well-pronounced cooperative Jahn-Teller effect. Major emphasis was placed on the nuclear magnetic superstructure with a wave vector q = (2π/2a, 0, 2π/2c). It was shown that this superstructure suggests 1/4-type charge ordering in the manganites under investigation. Original Russian Text ? S.F. Dubinin, S.G. Teploukhov, V.E. Arkhipov, V.D. Parkhomenko, é.A. Neĭfel’d, A.V. Korolev, N.A. Ugryumova, Ya.M. Mukovskiĭ, 2007, published in Fizika Tverdogo Tela, 2007, Vol. 49, No. 4, pp. 704–710.     

Charge ordering and structural transitions in Pr0.5Sr0.41Ca0.09MnO3

The structural and magnetic transitions in Pr_0.5Sr_0.41Ca_0.09MnO₃ have been investigated by neutron diffraction and electron microscopy. Two structural transitions, Imma to I4/mcm and I4/mcm to Pmmn, are observed by decreasing the temperature. Two magnetic transitions, from a paramagnetic insulating to a ferromagnetic metallic and from a ferromagnetic metallic to an antiferromagnetic insulating states at T_C=250 K and T_N=180 K, respectively, are also observed. The structures of these three forms have been determined from neutron powder diffraction data. The first important result concerns the low temperature antiferromagnetic CE type and charge ordered structure, which has been refined in the Pmmn space group, without any constraint. This structure is completely long range ordered, with two Mn-sites, Mn³⁺ in tetragonally elongated octahedra, and Mn⁴⁺, off-centered in nearly regular octahedra. The second important point concerns the abrupt character of the structural transition from the I4/mcm to the Pmmn structure, without any appearance of incommensurability. The magnetic and transport properties of this compound are compared with those of Pr_0.5Sr_0.5MnO₃.     

Temperature-dependent Brillouin scattering studies of surface acoustic modes in Nd0.5Sr0.5MnO3

Brillouin scattering experiments are carried out to study the surface acoustic waves in Nd_0.5Sr_0.5MnO₃ as a function of temperature in the range of 40-300 K covering the metal-insulator and charge-ordering phase transitions. The surface modes include surface Rayleigh wave, pseudo-surface acoustic wave (PSAW) and high velocity PSAW. The observed softening of the sound velocities for the surface modes below paramagnetic to ferromagnetic transition, T_c is related to the softening of the C₄₄ elastic constant. The subsequent hardening of the sound velocity below the charge ordering transition temperature T_co is attributed to the coupling of the acoustic phonon to the charge ordered state via long range ordering of the strong Jahn-Teller (JT) distortion.     

Research on charge-ordering state in La0.5Sr0.5MnO2.88 and La0.5Sr0.5Mn0.5Ti0.5O3 systems

The structural, magnetic and transport properties of La_0.5Sr_0.5MnO_2.88 and La_0.5Sr_0.5Mn_0.5Ti_0.5O₃ samples have been investigated systematically. Indeed, this series has been considered to understand the influence of physical parameters such as oxygen deficiency and titanium doping effect in undoped La_0.5Sr_0.5MnO₃ sample. Ceramic material based on La_0.5Sr_0.5MnO_2.88 exhibits interesting behaviours of charge-ordering (CO), ferromagnetic (FM) states and a good conductivity down to the lowest temperatures. The substitution of Ti for Mn destroyed drastically the CO, damaged the motion of itinerant e_g electrons and changed the local parameters of perovskite cell. A change of the structure from tetragonal to rhombohedral symmetry is observed causing a weakening of double-exchange interaction. The experiment results show that the suppression of the CO is sensitive to the variety of Mn³⁺/Mn⁴⁺ ratio. In a field of 8 T at 10 K, FM and CO phase can be evaluated to be ∼20:80 according to the μ_exp/μ_cal ratio for La_0.5Sr_0.5MnO_2.88, whereas the CO state is suppressed for La_0.5Sr_0.5Mn_0.5Ti_0.5O₃ sample, FM and anti-ferromagnetic (AFM) phase are coexisted and evaluated to be ∼54:46, respectively.     

Unusual resistive switching induced by voltage in La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 thin films

The hysteretic and reversible resistive-switching effect was observed in La_0.7Sr_0.3MnO₃ films at room temperature. The resistive switching was found to be most obvious in films fabricated at 30 Pa oxygen pressure, and more distinct in films fabricated on SrTiO₃ substrates than those fabricated on LaAlO₃ substrates. Moreover, La_0.7Sr_0.3MnO₃ films fabricated at a certain oxygen pressure with indium electrodes showed double ‘8’ type current-voltage loops. Some of the results are explained by considering the influence of the interface effect, electrodes and oxygen vacancies, but the mechanism of the double ‘8’ type current-voltage loops remains an open question.     

Structure and magnetization studies of Nd0.5−xPrxSr0.5MnO3 system

The structural and magnetic properties of Nd_0.5−xPr_xSr_0.5MnO₃ (x=0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5) system have been investigated. With the substitution of Pr in Nd_0.5Sr_0.5MnO₃, it shows a gradual structure transformation from the Imma orthorhombic symmetry to the tetragonal I4/mcm phase, and the crystallographic transition remains incomplete, even in Pr_0.5Sr_0.5MnO₃. A large bifurcation between zero-field-cooled (ZFC) and field-cooled (FC) susceptibility has been observed below Curie temperature (T_C), which is characteristic of coexistence of ferromagnetism (FM) and antiferromagnetism (AFM) at low temperature region. The magnetization of Pr_0.5Sr_0.5MnO₃ is larger than that of Nd_0.5Sr_0.5MnO₃, while Nd_0.5Sr_0.5MnO₃ with more CE-type AFM shows larger magnetization than Nd_0.3Pr_0.2Sr_0.5MnO_3, which mixed with CE-type (majority) and A-type (minority) AFM at low temperature, indicating that the magnetization of Nd_0.5−xPr_xSr_0.5MnO₃ system is affected by A-site disorder combined with orbital ordering of A-type AFM and CE-type AFM.