Mössbauer study on the magnetic field-induced insulator-to-metal transition in perovskite Eu0.6Sr0.4MnO3

We have investigated the spin dynamics of a distorted perovskite Eu_0.6Sr_0.4MnO₃ by means of Mössbauer spectroscopy. Below 70 K the exchange interaction grows gradually, and below 42 K the spins turn into a cluster glass state. The magnetic field-induced insulator-to-metal (IM) transition at low temperature is a transition from cluster glass to ferromagnet. The induced metallic phase seems to be still in non-uniform electronic state. On the other hand, at 80 K, just above T _c of the induced ferromagnet, a metamagnetic transition was observed.     

Spin freezing transition and non-Fermi-liquid self-energy in a three-orbital model

A single-site dynamical mean-field study of a three band model with the rotationally invariant interactions appropriate to the t_(2g) levels of a transition metal oxide reveals a quantum phase transition between a paramagnetic metallic phase and an incoherent metallic phase with frozen moments. The Mott transitions occurring at electron densities n=2, 3 per site take place inside the frozen moment phase. The critical line separating the two phases is characterized by a self-energy with the frequency dependence Sigma(omega) approximately sqrt[omega] and a broad quantum critical regime. The findings are discussed in the context of the power law observed in the optical conductivity of SrRuO3.     

Deformation mechanism of a phase transition during polishing of SmS samples

The behavior of a semiconductor samarium monosulfide contact with iron under the action of pressure has been investigated. It is shown that the jump observed in the conductivity of the contact corresponds to a phase transition of SmS into a metallic state. A conclusion about why a metallic phase appears on the surface of the SmS sample during polishing is drawn from a calculation of the deformations produced by a spherical indentor at the moment of the phase transition. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 39, 577–579 (March 1997)     

Dispersion-induced insulator-to-metal transition in polyaniline

Melt dispersion processing--without solvents or “secondary dopants”--pushes polyaniline reproducibly to the metallic side of the IM transition, although the undispersed polyaniline is on the insulator side. This is the first time that a conductive polymer is found there without applying pressure. The transition to the metallic state is associated with a decrease of the C₆-N-C₆ angle from 166° to 134°. Received 11 May 1999 and Received in final form 22 November 1999     

Probing the metal-insulator phase transition in the (DMEDO-EBDT)2PF6 single crystal by optical measurements

The temperature and polarization dependence of the optical reflectivity spectra of a quasi-one-dimensional 1/4-filled band system, (DMEDO-EBDT)(2)PF(6), have been investigated. We observed clear anisotropy in the electronic structures corresponding to the anisotropic transport properties. The appearance of a charge gap (E(g)?>?0.1?eV) and transfer of the spectral weight accompanied by the metal-insulator phase transition were clearly observed. In addition, a split of the intramolecular vibrational modes was observed, which strongly suggested the existence of charge disproportionation in the low temperature phase. We also observed a photoinduced reflectivity change, which implied the occurrence of a photoinduced phase transition from the low temperature insulating phase to the high temperature metallic phase.     

Surface phase transitions induced by electron mediated adatom-adatom interaction

We propose that the indirect adatom-adatom interaction mediated by the conduction electrons of a metallic surface is responsible for the sqrt[3]xsqrt[3]<==>3x3 structural phase transitions observed in Sn/Ge (111) and Pb/Ge (111). When the indirect interaction overwhelms the local stress field imposed by the substrate registry, the system suffers a phonon instability, resulting in a structural phase transition in the adlayer. Our theory is capable of explaining all the salient features of the sqrt[3]xsqrt[3]<==>3x3 transitions observed in Sn/Ge (111) and Pb/Ge (111), and is in principle applicable to a wide class of systems whose surfaces are metallic before the transition.     

Pressure-induced monatomic tetragonal phase of metallic iodine

An x-ray diffraction study of solid iodine at room temperature has revealed that it undergoes a new phase transition at about 45 GPa from the body-centered-orthorhombic to -tetragonal lattices in its monatomic metallic phase, in addition to the previously-known molecular-to- monatomic transition at 21 GPa. No appreciable discontinuity was observed in the unit cell volume across the transition pressure. This fact leads to an implication of the second order transition. An extrapolation of the present data also implies that a face-centered cubic phase is realized at a much lower pressure than previously predicted.     

Atomic-scale phase coexistence and fluctuation at the quasi-one-dimensional metal-insulator transition

Scanning tunneling microscopy of a quasi-one-dimensional (1D) metal-insulator transition in an In nanowire array on the Si(111) surface reveals unprecedented details in the transition dynamics. The transition proceeds in microscopic first order, namely, through the domain-by-domain conversion at the nanoscale, from the metallic to the insulating phase or vice versa. The definition of domains and their effective transition temperatures (Tc) are strongly correlated with the distribution of defects. Below Tc, the condensation and the fluctuation of 1D charge density waves are observed within the isolated metallic domains, as well as at the domain boundaries. The appearance of such isolated condensates suggests a strong intrawire coupling: a manifestation of the 1D nature of the critical fluctuation, as well as the origin of the first-order transition.     

Lattice distortion (Peierls Transition) caused by spin interaction in the chaotic impurity system of a semiconductor

The effect of an elastic spontaneous distortion of the crystal lattice of a doped semiconductor Ge:As near the insulator–metal (IM) phase transition has been discovered. The effect is manifested in the electron spin resonance (ESR) of neutral As atoms as a splitting of the single resonance absorption line. It observed at electron concentrations in the range 0.8 < n/n_C < 1 at low temperatures T < 100 K (n_C = 3.7 × 10¹⁷ cm^‐3 is the critical electron concentration for the IM phase transition). The splitting is the strongest along each of the six [110] directions, which indicates that the local lattice distortion occurs just in these directions. As a result, a sample is possibly divided into separate domains differing in the directions of compressive or tensile deformations. A study of concentration, temperature, and angular dependences of the effect has shown that the phenomenon discovered can be understood in terms of the Peierls spin transition model.     

Pressure-driven "molecular metal" to "atomic metal" transition in crystalline Ga

We present the ultrasonic study of gallium (Ga I) under high pressure up to 1.7 GPa, including the measurements of the density and elastic properties during phase transitions to Ga II and to a liquid state. The observed large drop of both bulk and shear moduli (by 30% and 55%, correspondingly) during the phase transition to Ga II, as well as the increase of the Poisson's ratio from typically "covalent" ( approximately 0.22) to "metallic" ( approximately 0.32) values, experimentally testifies to the coexistence of a molecular and metallic behavior in Ga I and to the disappearance of the "covalency" during the transition to Ga II. A high value of the pressure derivative of the bulk modulus for Ga I and the increase in the Poisson's ratio can be associated with the weakening of the covalency in compressed Ga I and considered as a precursor of the transition to normal metal.     

Termination of two-dimensional metallic conduction near the metal-insulator transition in a Si/SiGe quantum well

We report in this Letter our recent low-temperature transport results in a Si/SiGe quantum well with moderate peak mobility. An apparent metal-insulating transition is observed. Within a small range of densities near the transition, the conductivity σ displays a nonmonotonic temperature dependence. After an initial decrease at high temperatures, σ first increases with decreasing temperature T, showing a metallic behavior. As T continues decreasing, a downturn in σ is observed. This downturn shifts to a lower T at higher densities. More interestingly, the downturn temperature shows a power-law dependence on the mobility at the downturn position, suggesting that a similar downturn is also expected to occur deep in the apparent metallic regime at albeit experimentally inaccessible temperatures. This thus hints that the observed metallic phase in 2D systems might be a finite temperature effect.     

Electrically controlled metal-insulator transition process in VO2 thin films

We report the evolution process of VO(2) thin films from the insulating phase to the metallic phase under current injection for the two-electrode-based thin-film devices. Based on electrical characterization and Raman microscopic detection, it was found that there exist two critical current densities, based on which the insulator-to-metal transition process can be divided into three stages. In stage I with low current injection, the VO(2) film in the insulating (semiconducting) phase acts as a resistor until the first critical current density, above which the insulator-metal transition is a percolation process with metallic rutile and insulating monoclinic phases coexisting (stage II); while beyond a second critical current density, a filamentary current path with pure metallic phase is formed with the remaining part outside of the current path receding back to the pure insulating phase (stage III). We confirm that a critical current density is required for the onset of electrically induced insulator-to-metal transition in VO(2) thin films.     

The forbidden gap and insulator-metal transition under pressure

The behavior of the energy bands and the band gap width of a compressed insulator crystal is studied. The conduction band energy at the center of a face of the Brillouin zone first increases and then abruptly decreases upon an increase in compression, resulting in a collapse of the forbidden gap and in an insulator-metal (IM) transition. A model proposed for the mechanism of this transition interprets it to be a phase transition of order two and a half. The compression ratio and pressure at which an IM transition occurs in neon under pressure are predicted on the basis of nonempirical calculations of the valence and conduction bands. A simplified model suitable for calculating the metallization effect in more complex crystals is proposed.     

Determination of the phase boundary of GaP using in situ high pressure and high-temperature X-ray diffraction

The high pressure behavior of gallium phosphide, GaP, has been examined using the synchrotron X-ray diffraction technique in a diamond anvil cell up to 27?GPa and 900?K. The transition from a semiconducting to a metallic phase was observed. This transition occurred at 22.2?GPa and room temperature, and a negative dependence of temperature of this transition was found. The transition boundary was determined to be P (GPa)?=?22.6???0.0014?×?T (K).     

电触发二氧化钒纳米线发生金属-绝缘体转变的机理

二氧化钒(VO_2)是一种强关联相变材料,在341 K下发生金属-绝缘体转变.尽管对于VO_2相变的物理机理进行了大量研究,但科学家仍未形成统一认识.与热致VO_2相变相比,电触发VO_2相变应用前景更为广阔,但其机理也更为复杂.本文利用原位通电杆和超快相机技术,在透射电镜下原位观察了单晶VO_2纳米线通电时的相转变过程,记录了相变过程中对应的电压-电流值,并在毫秒尺度下捕捉到了VO_2的过渡相态.发现VO_2电致相变并非由焦耳热引起,推断其机理是载流子注入.同时观察到电子结构相变和晶体结构相变存在解耦现象,进一步支持了上述推断.将VO_2纳米线两端施加非接触式电场,观察到VO_2纳米线在电场中的极化偏移,而未观察到相变发生,该现象同样支持相变的载流子注入机理.研究表明VO_2的金属-绝缘体转变遵循电子-电子关联机理,即根据电子关联的Mott转变进行.     

Features of the semiconductor-metal transition in GaAs at ultrahigh pressures: New intermediate phases

Using the thermopower method (Seebeck effect), the semiconductor-metal transition that occurs in gallium arsenide single crystals of n and p types at ultrahigh pressures P above ～11–18 GPa has been studied. It has been found that the transition in n-type samples begins at lower pressures. In the region of the semiconductor-metal phase transition, features have been observed on the thermopower dependences S(P). These features indicate that lattices intermediate between the initial semiconductor structure of zinc blende and the Cmcm high-pressure orthorhombic metallic phase are formed. By analogy with ZnTe, one intermediate phase (semiconductor with hole conductivity) is suggested to have the cinnabar structure and the second intermediate phase (semimetallic with electron conductivity) possibly has the SC16 structure. A model of the semiconductor-metal transition is discussed. The behavior of the thermoelectric properties in GaAs under pressure is compared with the behavior of these properties in other A_NB_8?N semiconductors, which also undergo the transition to the metallic state.     

Anomalous superconductivity and pressure induced phase transitions in black phosphorus

Pressure induced superconductivity in black phosphorus was measured along three different paths in P-T diagram. High-Tc was observed when pressure was continuously increased at liquid helium temperature. Pressure induced phase transitions has been also studied. A mechanism of the phase transition is closely related to the anomalous superconductivity. The high-Tc superconductivity of black-P may be attributed to the existence of superconducting phase in metallic phase.     

金属螺旋型碳纳米管的Peierls相变研究

根据描述电子声子相互作用的Fr?hlich哈密顿量,推导出了金属螺旋型碳纳米管(n₁,n₂)的Peierls相变温度的一般表达式,并利用该式计算了(6,3)的Peierls相变温度.结果表明金属螺旋型碳纳米管在远离室温下都不会发生Peierls相变,仍然保持其金属性 关键词： 螺旋型碳纳米管 电子声子相互作用 Peierls相变     

Direct evidence of the charge ordered phase transition of indium nanowires on Si111

A controversial issue of the driving force for the phase transition of the one-dimensional (1D) metallic In wires on Si(111) is studied by low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy. The energy gap opening and the longitudinal charge ordering through charge transfer at the Fermi level are unambiguously observed. The vacancy defects induce a local charge ordering decoupled from a lattice distortion above T(c), and pin the phase of charge order below T(c). All these results below and above T(c) including the detailed features such as local fluctuations strongly support the 1D charge-density-wave mechanism for the phase transition.     

Anomalous behavior of the surface tension at the interface of the metallic and insulating phases in the vicinity of the metal-insulator phase transition in a magnetic field

Mean-field equations describing the metal-insulator (MI) transition are formulated. They involve two coupled order parameters characterizing this transition: (i) a scalar order parameter describing the density change accompanying the transition from the insulating state to the metallic one and (ii) an order parameter (a two-component vector) describing the electron density in the metallic or semimetallic phase affected by the applied magnetic field. Two components of this vector correspond to different possible spin states of electrons in the applied magnetic field. The transition in the density of metallic and insulating phases being a first order phase transition is treated in terms of the Cahn-Hilliard-type gradient expansion. The transition in the electron density is a second order phase described by the Ginzburg-Landau-type functional. The coupling of these two parameters is described by the term linearly dependent on the electron density n in the metal with the proportionality factor being a function of the density of the metallic phase. The derived equations are solved in the case of the MI interface in the presence of both parallel and perpendicular uniform magnetic fields. The calculated surface tension Σ_mi between the metallic and insulating phases has a singular behavior. In the limit of zero electron density n ? 0, Σ_mi ～ n ^3/2. Near the MI transition point T _c(h) in the applied magnetic field, Σ_mi ～ [T - T _c(h)]^3/2. The singular behavior of the surface tension at the MI interface results in the clearly pronounced hysteresis accompanying the transition from the insulating to metallic state and vice versa.