Ultrafast photoinduced insulator-ferromagnet transition in the perovskite manganite Gd0.55Sr0.45MnO3

We have investigated the ultrafast spin and charge dynamics in the course of a photoinduced phase transition from an insulator with short-range charge order and orbital order (OO) to a ferromagnetic metal in perovskite-type Gd0.55Sr0.45MnO3. Transient reflectivity changes suggest that the metallic state is formed just after the photoirradiation and decays within approximately 1 ps. The magnetization, however, increases with the time constant of 0.5 ps and decays in approximately 10 ps. The relatively slow increase of the magnetization is attributable to the magnetic-field-induced alignment of ferromagnetic domains in the initially produced metallic state and its slow decay to the partial recovery of the OO.     

Heat capacity and resistivity of Sm0.55Sr0.45MnO3 in magnetic fields of up to 26 kOe

Heat capacity and resistivity of Sm_0.55Sr_0.45MnO₃ ceramics were measured over the temperature range 80–300 K in magnetic fields of up to 26 kOe. These quantities show anomalies caused by the magnetic and structural phase transitions. The critical temperature T _c and the heat capacity jump ΔC _p (T _c ) at T _c increase with increasing applied magnetic field H, while the resistivity decreases. The temperature dependences of the measured quantities show hysteresis, which is strongly suppressed in a field of 26 kOe but is sensitive nor to the temperature range neither to the rate of temperature change. The hysteresis of the heat capacity and resistivity of Sm_0.55Sr_0.45MnO₃ is caused by a change in T _c with changing lattice parameters upon second-order structural phase transition. The results are discussed in terms of the electron phase separation model.     

Relation between giant volume magnetostriction and colossal magnetoresistance near the Curie temperature of Sm0.55Sr0.45MnO3

The magnetic, transport, and elastic properties of Sm_0.55Sr_0.45MnO₃ have been established to be interrelated. At the Curie point, one observes a large volume compression ΔV/V≈0.1%, a sharp minimum in the temperature dependence of negative volume magnetostriction ω(T), and a maximum in the temperature dependence of the electrical resistivity. Giant negative volume magnetostriction ω=?5×10^?4 has been found in a magnetic field H=0.9 T, which is accompanied by a colossal negative magnetoresistance of 44% in the same field. The results obtained are discussed in terms of a model of electronic phase separation.     

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.     

Metamagnetic phase transitions induced by static and pulsed fields in (Sm0.5Gd0.5)0.55Sr0.45MnO3 ceramics

It has been found that the magnetic susceptibility of (Sm_0.5Gd_0.5)_0.55Sr_0.45MnO₃ ceramic samples in zero external magnetic field exhibits a sharp peak near the temperature of 48.5 K with a small temperature hysteresis that does not depend on the frequency of measurements and is characteristic of the phase transition to an antiferromagnetic state with a long-range charge orbital ordering, which is accompanied by an increase in the magnetic susceptibility with a decrease in the temperature. The magnetization isotherms in static and pulsed magnetic fields at temperatures below 60 K demonstrate the occurrence of an irreversible metamagnetic transition to a homogeneous ferromagnetic state with a critical transition field independent of the measurement temperature, which, apparently, is associated with the destruction of the insulating state with a long-range charge ordering. In the temperature range 60 K ?? T ?? 150 K, the ceramic samples undergo a magnetic-field-induced reversible phase transition to the ferromagnetic state, which is similar to the metamagnetic transition in the low-temperature phase and is caused by the destruction of local charge/orbital correlations. With an increase in the temperature, the critical transition fields increase almost linearly and the field hysteresis disappears. Near the critical fields of magnetic phase transitions, small ultra-narrow magnetization steps have been revealed in pulsed fields with a high rate of change in the magnetic field of ??400 kOe/??s.     

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.     

Giant magnetocaloric effect near the curie temperature in the Sm0.6Sr0.4MnO3 manganite

A method is proposed for the calculation of the magnetocaloric effect from simultaneous measurements of thermal expansion and magnetostriction made in different regimes (adiabatic and isothermal). The magnitude of the magnetocaloric effect for Sm_0.6Sr_0.4MnO₃ is estimated. It is found that near the Curie temperature T _C it passes through a maximum to reach a giant value ΔT=4.6 K for ΔB=0.84 T. In addition, in the neighborhood of T _C, we observed colossal magnetoresistance Δρ/ρ = [ρ(H) ? ρ(0)]/ρ(0) = 72% in a weak magnetic field of 0.84 T, a giant negative volume magnetostriction ω=?5×10^?4 in a field of the same strength, and a large change in the sample volume ΔV/V ≈ 0.1%.     

Spontaneous generation of the electrical voltage in charge-ordered manganite Pr0.6Ca0.4MnO3

Spontaneous generation of the electrical voltage in a Pr_0.6Ca_0.4MnO₃ single crystal has been found. The charge and orbital ordering in the crystal takes place at T _CO = 240 K, while the antiferromagnetic ordering occurs at T _N = 174 K. As the temperature lowers, spontaneous voltage U increases initially slowly (in the temperature range from 300 K to T _CO) and then more rapidly (in the range T _CO-T _N ). Starting from T _N , the voltage U increases exponentially and, at 85 K, reaches 115 mV (in the ab plane) and 6.5 mV (along the c axis). The magnetic field differently affects the voltage U in different temperature ranges: it decreases the value of U in the temperature range of 85–130 K and increases in the range of 130–240 K. It is assumed that the spontaneous voltage is associated with the existence of ferromagnetic and charge orbital ordered clusters of different topologies in the crystal.     

High pressure effect on the crystal and magnetic structure of Pr0.1Sr0.9MnO3 manganite

The crystal and magnetic structure of Pr_0.1Sr_0.9MnO₃ manganite has been studied by the neutron diffraction at high pressures up to 5 GPa in the temperature range 10?C295 K. At normal pressure and decreasing temperature the appearance of the C-type (T _N = 220 K) and G-type (T _N = 180 K) antiferromagnetic states occurs, which is accompanied by a structural phase transition from the cubic structure (Pm $ \bar 3 $ m space group) to the tetragonal structure (I4/mcm space group). It is shown that the temperature of the transition to the C-type antiferromagnetic phase increases with pressure with the pressure coefficient dT _N/dP = 4.0(5) K/GPa and the temperature of the transition to the G-type antiferromagnetic phase weakly depends on pressure.     

Dynamic response in La0.55Ca0.45MnO3: temperature and field dependence

We report AC susceptibility measurements on bulk La_0.55Ca_0.45MnO₃ as functions of temperature, DC field and frequency ( f<1500 Hz). Both the in-phase (χ′) and out-of-phase (χ″) parts of the response are studied. It is observed that the in-phase part goes through a maximum that is removed on the application of moderate DC fields. The temperature and field dependence of χ″ are consistent with the picture of an inhomogeneous transition proceeding through a growth of clusters. DC fields suppress both the components with the strongest effects being at or close to T_c. The out of phase response is completely suppressed by fields of the order of a few hundred Gauss. The effect of the DC field is discussed in terms of the suppression of spin fluctuations close to T_c, and to the changes in coercivity for lower temperatures.     

Internal friction evidence of uncorrelated magnetic clusters in electron-doped manganite Sr0.8Ce0.2MnO3

Electron-doped manganite Sr_0.8Ce_0.2MnO₃ has been systematically investigated by X-ray diffraction, electronic transport, magnetic, internal friction, and Young's modulus experiments. The X-ray diffraction result indicates that the compound remains tetragonal (I4/mcm) structure at room temperature. Due to the strong Jahn–Teller (JT) distortion, the ground state is antiferromagnetic (AFM) insulator. Below 20 K, a spin-glass (SG) state dominates at low temperatures. In the paramagnetic (PM) region, an internal friction peak at around 250 K, which is characteristic of relaxation, has been observed. Under applied magnetic field, the internal friction peak moves to higher temperature, which is suggested to originate from the formation of ferromagnetic (FM) clusters in PM region. In addition, the softening of Young's modulus in the vicinity of AFM transition temperature is interpreted in terms of the strong electron–phonon interaction.     

Ag复合对La2/3(Ca0.45Sr0.55)1/3MnO3/xAg体系电输运和室温磁电阻效应影响

文中采用甘氨酸-硝酸盐法分别制备了La2/3(Ca0.45Sr0.55)1/3MnO3/xAg纳米复合材料(x=0;0.1;0.2;0.3).通过X射线衍射、扫描电子显微镜和磁电阻效应测试,对合成产物的结构及性能进行表征.结果表明,随Ag复合量增加,样品均为正交钙钛矿结构,低场室温磁电阻效应增强,电阻率减小.     

Structural and magnetic phase transitions occurring in Pr0.7Sr0.3MnO3 manganite at high pressures

The crystal and magnetic structures and the vibrational spectra of Pr_0.7Sr_0.3MnO₃ manganite are studied within the pressure range up to 25 GPa by methods of X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy. Neutron diffraction studies have been performed at pressures up to 4.5 GPa. The magnetic phase transition from the ferromagnetic phase (T _C = 273 K) to the A-type antiferromagnetic phase (T _N = 153 K) is found at P ≈ 2 GPa. This transition is characterized by a broad pressure range corresponding to the phase separation. The Raman spectra of Pr_0.7Sr_0.3MnO₃ measured under high pressures significantly differ from the corresponding spectra of the isostructural doped A_{1 ? x} A′ _x MnO₃ manganites, (where A is a rare-earth ion and A′ is an alkaline-earth ion) with the smaller average ionic radius 〈r _A〉 of A and A′ cations. Namely, the former spectra do not include clearly pronounced stretching phonon modes. At P ～ 7 GPa, there appears the structural phase transition from the orthorhombic phase with the Pnma space group to the orthorhombic high-pressure phase with the Imma symmetry. In the vicinity of the phase transition, anomalies in the pressure dependences of the lattice parameters, unit cell volume, and phonon frequencies corresponding to the characteristic lattice vibration modes are observed.     

Capacitance of the La0.67Sr0.33MnO3/(Ba,Sr)TiO3 interface induced by electric field penetration into the manganite electrode

(001)La_0.67Sr_0.33MnO₃/(001)(Ba_xSr_{1 ? x} TiO₃/(001)La_0.67Sr_0.33MnO₃(x= 0–0.25) three-layer heterostructures are grown by laser evaporation on (001)La_0.3Sr_0.7Al_0.65Ta_0.35O₃ single-crystalline substrates. In a wide temperature range (≈150 K), effective permittivity ? of (1000 nm)Ba_0.25Sr_0.75TiO₃ and (1000 nm)SrTiO₃ films grown obeys the relationship ? ～ (T ? T _CW)^?1, where T _CW is the Curie-Weiss temperature for related bulk crystals. Using experimental dependences ?(T), the capacitance of the (001)La_0.67Sr_0.33MnO₃/(001)Ba_xSr_1?x TiO₃ and (001)La_0.67Sr_0.33MnO₃/(001)SrTiO₃ interfaces, which is due to electric field penetration into the manganite electrode, is estimated (C _int≈4μF/cm²). At bias voltages of ± 2.5 V, the change in the permittivity of the STO and BSTO films in the heterostructures studied reaches 25 and 45%, respectively.     

A位的Sm掺杂对La0.67Sr0.33MnO3体系磁电性质的影响

通过实验研究了La0.67-xSmxSr0.33MnO3(x=0.00,0.10,0.20,0.30)体系的M-T曲线、ESR曲线、红外光谱、拉曼光谱、ρ-T曲线和MR-T曲线. 实验结果表明:随着Sm掺杂的增加,体系从长程铁磁有序向自旋团簇玻璃态和反铁磁状态转变,Sm掺杂引起的磁结构变化和额外磁性耦合将导致CMR效应.     

Defects and the structure of a manganite La0.85Sr0.15MnO3 crystal

Defects in a ferromagnetic crystal of manganite La_0.85Sr_0.15MnO₃ were created by irradiation with fast neutrons (E > 0.1 MeV). Fast neutrons produce defect clusters in a crystal lattice. The volume fraction of the clusters in the crystal after irradiation to a dose F = 2 × 10¹⁹ cm^?2 (T _irr = 340 K) was ?40%. The structural and magnetic states of the modified manganite were studied using thermal-neutron diffraction and magnetic measurements. It was revealed that neutron irradiation of a crystal suppresses the cooperative Jahn-Teller effect and the initial charge modes and decreases the temperature of ferromagnetic ordering. Under irradiation with fast neutrons, the crystalline structure of the manganite changes from the orthorhombic O′ to the pseudocubic O* phase. Arguments are advanced in favor of the specific features of the irradiated-manganite structural state being determined by long-wavelength strains induced in the crystal by antisite defects.     

Influence of cracks generation on the structural and optical properties of GaN/Al0.55Ga0.45N multiple quantum wells

Both cracked and crack-free GaN/Al_0.55Ga_0.45N multiple quantum wells (MQWs) grown on GaN template by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition have been studied by triple-axis X-ray diffraction, grazing-incidence X-ray reflectivity, atomic force microscope, photoluminescence spectroscopy and low-energy positron annihilation spectroscopy. The experimental results show that cracks generation not only deteriorates the surface morphology, but also leads to a period dispersion and roughens the interfaces of MQWs. The mean density of dislocations in MQWs, determined from the average full-width at half-maximum of ω-scan of each satellite peak, has been significantly enhanced by the cracks generation. Furthermore, the measurement of annihilation-line Doppler broadening reveals a higher concentration of negatively charged vacancies in the cracked MQWs. The combination of these vacancies and the high density of edge dislocations are assumed to contribute to the highly enhanced yellow luminescence in the cracked sample.     

V替代Mn对La_(0.45)Ca_(0.55)MnO_3电荷有序相及自旋玻璃态的影响

用固相反应法制备了La0.45Ca0.55Mn1-xVxO3(x=0.00,0.10)多晶样品.通过X射线衍射谱、质量磁化强度-温度曲线、电子自旋共振谱,研究了V5+替代Mn3+/Mn4+对La0.45Ca0.55MnO3电荷有序相和自旋玻璃态的影响.实验结果表明,当x=0.10时,不仅母体的电荷有序相基本破坏,而且母体在40K左右出现的自旋玻璃态也被融化.电荷有序相被破坏的主要原因是用V5+替代Mn3+/Mn4+后,增加了Mn3+与Mn4+的比例,使铁磁双交换作用优于反铁磁超交换作用;自旋玻璃态的融化是由于V替代Mn后破坏了反铁磁背景下有少量铁磁成分的自旋玻璃态的形成条件.