Spin state transition in LaCoO3 studied using soft x-ray absorption spectroscopy and magnetic circular dichroism

A critical re-examination and a revised phase diagram of La(1 - x)Sr(x)CoO₃

We report the results of a comprehensive study on dc magnetization, ac susceptibility, and the magnetotransport properties of the La(1 - x)Sr(x)CoO₃(0 ≤ x ≤ 0.5) system. At higher Sr doping (x ≥ 0.18), the system exhibits Brillouin-like field cooled magnetization (M(FC)). However, for x < 0.18, the system exhibits a kink in the M(FC), a peak at the intermediate field in the thermoremnant magnetization and a non-saturating tendency in the M-H plot that all point towards the characteristic of spin glass behavior. More interestingly, dc magnetization studies for x < 0.18 do not suggest the existence of ferromagnetic correlation that can give rise to an irreversible line in the spin glass regime. The ac susceptibility study for x > 0.2 exhibits apparently no frequency dependent peak shift around the ferromagnetic transition region. However, a feeble signature of glassiness is verified by studying the frequency dependent shoulder position in χ('')(T) and the memory effect below the Curie temperature. But, for x < 0.18, the ac susceptibility study exhibits a considerable frequency dependent peak shift, time dependent memory effect, and the characteristic spin relaxation time scale τ(o) approximately 10(- 13) s. The reciprocal susceptibility versus temperature plot adheres to Curie-Weiss behavior and does not provide any signature of preformed ferromagnetic clusters well above the Curie temperature. The magnetotransport study reveals a cross over from metallic to semiconducting-like behavior for x ≤ 0.18. On the semiconducting side, the system exhibits a large value of magnetoresistance (upto 75%) towards low temperature and it is strongly connected to the spin dependent part of the random potential distribution in the spin glass phase. Based on the above observations, we have reconstructed a new magnetic phase diagram and characterized each phase with associated properties.

Spin State Control of the Perovskite Rh/Co Oxides

We show why and how the spin state of transition-metal ions affects the thermoelectric properties of transition-metal oxides by investigating two perovskite-related oxides. In the A-site ordered cobalt oxide Sr3YCo4O10.5, partial substitution of Ca for Sr acts as chemical pressure, which compresses the unit cell volume to drive the spin state crossover, and concomitantly changes the magnetization and thermopower. In the perovskite rhodium oxide LaRhO3, partial substitution of Sr for La acts as hole-doping, and the resistivity and thermopower decrease systematically with the Sr concentration. The thermopower remains large values at high temperatures (>150 μV/K at 800 K), which makes a remarkable contrast to La1−xSrxCoO3. We associate this with the stability of the low spin state of the Rh3+ ions.

Neutron diffraction studies of structural and magnetic properties of niobium doped cobaltites

Neutron powder diffraction studies of the structural and magnetic properties of the La(1-x)Sr(x)Nb(y)Co(1-y)O(3) solid solutions (x = 0.2, 0.5; y = 0, 0.075, 0.1) have been performed. Substitution of Co(2+) by Nb(5+) prevents the formation of Co(4+) and leads to stabilization of the Co(3+) ions in the high- or intermediate-spin state. This is accompanied by the significant change of the Co-O bond length as well as Co-O-Co bond angle in the CoO(6) octahedron. The obtained data are in agreement with the negative sign of the magnetic exchange interactions Co(3+)-O-Co(3+) in a relatively wide range of the Co-O-Co bond angles. Diamagnetic dilution by the niobium ions prevents long-range magnetic ordering and strongly increases magnetoresistance at low temperature.

Spin-orbit mediated interference in the radiative and nonradiative channels of the La 4d core resonances

Symmetrical fluorescence yield profiles and asymmetrical electron yield profiles of the preresonances at the La N_{IV,V} x-ray absorption edge are experimentally observed in LaPO_{4} nanoparticles. Theoretical studies show that they are caused by interference effects. The spin-orbit interaction and the giant resonance produce symmetry entangled intermediate states that activate coherent scattering and alter the spectral distribution of the oscillator strength. The scattering amplitudes of the electron and fluorescence decays are further modified by the spin-orbit coupling in the final 5p;{5}epsilonl and 5p;{5}4f;{1} states.

Spin blockade, orbital occupation, and charge ordering in La1.5Sr0.5CoO4

Using Co-L2,3 and O-K x-ray absorption spectroscopy, we reveal that the charge ordering in La1.5Sr0.5CoO4 involves high spin (S=3/2) Co2+ and low spin (S=0) Co3+ ions. This provides evidence for the spin-blockade phenomenon as a source for the extremely insulating nature of the La2-xSrxCoO4 series. The associated e{g}{2} and e{g}{0} orbital occupation accounts for the large contrast in the Co-O bond lengths and, in turn, the high charge ordering temperature. Yet, the low magnetic ordering temperature is naturally explained by the presence of the nonmagnetic (S=0) Co3+ ions. From the identification of the bands we infer that La1.5Sr0.5CoO4 is a narrow band material.

Local structure of La1-xSrxCoO3 determined from EXAFS and neutron pair distribution function studies

The combined local structure techniques, extended x-ray absorption fine structure and neutron pair distribution function analysis, have been used for temperatures 4< or =T< or =330 K to rule out a large Jahn-Teller (JT) distortion of the Co-O bond in La1-xSrxCoO3 for a significant fraction of Co sites (x< or =0.35), indicating few, if any, JT-active, singly occupied e_{g} Co sites exist.

Spin polaron theory for the photoemission spectra of layered cobaltates

Recently, strong reduction of the quasiparticle peaks and pronounced incoherent structures have been observed in the photoemission spectra of layered cobaltates. Surprisingly, these many-body effects are found to increase near the band-insulator regime. We explain these unexpected observations in terms of a novel spin-polaron model for CoO2 planes, which is based on a fact of the spin-state quasidegeneracy of Co3+ ions in oxides. Scattering of the photoholes on spin-state fluctuations suppresses their coherent motion. The observed "peak-dip-hump" type line shapes are well reproduced by the theory.

Direct measurement of the low-temperature spin-state transition in LaCoO3

LaCoO3 exhibits an anomaly in its magnetic susceptibility around 80 K associated with a thermally excited transition of the Co3+-ion spin. We show that electron energy-loss spectroscopy is sensitive to this Co3+-ion spin-state transition, and that the O K edge prepeak provides a direct measure of the Co3+ spin state in LaCoO3 as a function of temperature. Our experimental results are confirmed by first-principles calculations, and we conclude that the thermally excited spin-state transition occurs from a low to an intermediate spin state, which can be distinguished from the high-spin state.

Spin-state transition in LaCoO3: direct neutron spectroscopic evidence of excited magnetic states

A gradual spin-state transition occurs in LaCoO3 around T approximately 80-120 K, whose detailed nature remains controversial. We studied this transition by means of inelastic neutron scattering and found that with increasing temperature an excitation at approximately 0.6 meV appears, whose intensity increases with temperature, following the bulk magnetization. Within a model including crystal-field interaction and spin-orbit coupling, we interpret this excitation as originating from a transition between thermally excited states located about 120 K above the ground state. We further discuss the nature of the magnetic excited state in terms of intermediate-spin (t(2g)(5)e(g)(1), S=1) versus high-spin (t(2g)(4)e(g)(2), S=2) states. Since the g factor obtained from the field dependence of the inelastic neutron scattering is g approximately 3, the second interpretation is definitely favored.