New phase transition in the Pr1-xCaxMnO3 system: evidence for electrical polarization in charge ordered manganites

Strain-induced charge ordering above room temperature in rare-earth manganites

Most known mixed manganites containing rare-earth elements demonstrate a pronounced charge ordering (CO) state below room temperature. The behavior of the magnetic susceptibility and electronic magnetic resonance of polycrystalline Pr1-xSrxMnO3/YSZ (x = 0.2 and x = 0.4) films without a pronounced texture indicates the formation of the CO phase in the samples at temperatures close to and above room temperature. Moreover, this phase manifests itself with a typical sign of martensitic transformation. The same phenomenon has been traced for textured polycrystalline La0.7Sr0.3MnO3/YSZ films. Electron microscope data indicate the presence of internal strain within the films, which is probably responsible for the formation of the CO phase. It is assumed that the reasons for the appearance of such strain include the crystallite size and the boundary between them. The results obtained provide the basis for the development of new research and technological tasks for the generation of the high-temperature CO state in various polycrystalline rare-earth manganites, since this state contributes to the manifestation of interesting magnetocaloric, magnetoelectric and multiferroic properties. In addition, recent data has opened up new opportunities for studying the strain-induced phenomena in such materials.

Charge order textures induced by non-linear couplings in a half-doped manganite

The self-organization of strongly interacting electrons into superlattice structures underlies the properties of many quantum materials. How these electrons arrange within the superlattice dictates what symmetries are broken and what ground states are stabilized. Here we show that cryogenic scanning transmission electron microscopy (cryo-STEM) enables direct mapping of local symmetries and order at the intra-unit-cell level in the model charge-ordered system Nd_1/2Sr_1/2MnO₃. In addition to imaging the prototypical site-centered charge order, we discover the nanoscale coexistence of an exotic intermediate state which mixes site and bond order and breaks inversion symmetry. We further show that nonlinear coupling of distinct lattice modes controls the selection between competing ground states. The results demonstrate the importance of lattice coupling for understanding and manipulating the character of electronic self-organization and that cryo-STEM can reveal local order in strongly correlated systems at the atomic scale.

In this paper, the authors demonstrate that cryogenic scanning transmission electron microscopy allows for the direct mapping of the local arrangements and symmetries of electronic order, providing a useful method for studying strongly correlated systems. They show this using the example of Nd1/2Sr1/2MnO3, a model charge ordered material.

Local inhomogeneous state in multiferroic SmCrO3

Rare-earth orthochromites with distorted perovskite structure (e.g. RCrO₃, R = Sm, Gd) have been under strong debate with respect to the origin of their ferroelectric order. Of particular interest is the question of whether such orthochromites are, in fact, magnetically driven improper ferroelectrics, as many rare-earth manganites or orthoferrites. Here we show, by studying at the atomic scale the rare-earth SmCrO₃ system that a distortion of the Sm local environment emerges within the paramagnetic phase, near room temperature. Our Electric Field Gradient measurements combined with first-principles calculations show that the emergent phase cannot be simply ascribed to the Pna2₁ structure as reported for GdCrO₃ or SmCrO₃. Instead a local inhomogeneous state, where regular non-polar and polar distorted environments coexist, develops at low temperatures.

TDPAC Studies of Local Defects and Phenomena in Ferroics and Multiferroics

We provide an overview of time-differential perturbed angular correlation (TDPAC) measurements of ferroic and multiferroic materials. Here, we explore chalcogenide spinels, lead titanate, lead zirconate, and bismuth ferrite, describing the use of TDPAC experiments to probe the physics of localized defects and the various mechanisms that govern electronic and magnetic interactions, the coupling of the associated degrees of freedom, and the structural, charge, and orbital correlations for these materials.

Ferroelectric polarization in multiferroics

Multiferroic materials, showing ordering of both electrical and magnetic degrees of freedom, are promising candidates enabling the design of novel electronic devices. Various mechanisms ranging from geometrically or spin-driven improper ferroelectricity via lone-pairs, charge-order or -transfer support multiferroicity in single-phase or composite compounds. The search for materials showing these effects constitutes one of the most important research fields in solid-state physics during the last years, but scientific interest even traces back to the middle of the past century. Especially, a potentially strong coupling between spin and electric dipoles captured the interest to control via an electric field the magnetization or via a magnetic field the electric polarization. This would imply a promising route for novel electronics. Here, we provide a review about the dielectric and ferroelectric properties of various multiferroic systems ranging from type I multiferroics, in which magnetic and ferroelectric order develop almost independently of each other, to type II multiferroics, which exhibit strong coupling of magnetic and ferroelectric ordering. We thoroughly discuss the dielectric signatures of the ferroelectric polarization for BiFeO3, Fe3O4, DyMnO3 and an organic charge-transfer salt as well as show electric-field poling studies for the hexagonal manganites and a spin-spiral system LiCuVO4.

Hyperfine local probe study of alkaline-earth manganites SrMnO₃ and BaMnO₃

We report perturbed angular correlation measurements with (111m)Cd/(111)Cd and (111)In/(111)Cd probes, at the ISOLDE-CERN facility, in the manganite compounds BaMnO3, with the 6H and 15R polymorphs, and SrMnO3, with the 4H polymorph. The electric field gradient (EFG) is measured, and found approximately constant in a large temperature range for all the compounds. The EFG is also calculated from first principles with density functional theory, and compared with experimental results by considering diluted substitutional Cd impurities. Based on the results, we assign as sites for the probes the Ba (for BaMnO3-6H, 15R) and Sr (for SrMnO3-4H) sites, apart from fractions of undetermined origin in the case of BaMnO3-6H. We predict the hyperfine parameters in the recently synthesized multiferroic manganite Sr(0.5)Ba(0.5)MnO3, and its variation with the structure and electric polarization, which is found to be very small.

Local bias induced ferroelectricity in manganites with competing charge and orbital order states

Perovskite-type manganites, such as Pr_1−xCa_xMnO₃, La_1−xCa_xMnO₃ and La_1−xSr_xMnO₃ solid solutions, are set forth as a case study of ferroelectricity formation mechanisms associated with the appearance of site- and bond-centered orbital ordering which breaks structural inversion symmetry.

Delocalized and localized states of eg electrons in half-doped manganites

We have studied the magnetic behaviour of half-doped manganite Y0.5Ca0.5MnO3 in an extended range of temperatures by means of magnetic susceptibility, χ(T), and electron spin resonance (ESR) experiments. At high temperature the system crystallizes in an orthorhombic structure. The resistivity value, ρ ≃ 0.05 Ω cm at 500 K, indicates a metallic behaviour, while the Curie-Weiss dependence of χ(T) and the thermal evolution of the ESR parameters are very well described by a model that considers a system conformed by localized Mn(4+) cores, [Formula: see text], and itinerant, eg, electrons. The strong coupling between t2g and eg electrons results in an enhanced Curie constant and an FM Curie-Weiss temperature that overcomes the AFM interactions between the [Formula: see text] cores. A transition to a more distorted phase is observed at T ≈ 500 K and signatures of localization of the eg electrons appear in the χ(T) behaviour below 300 K. A new Curie-Weiss regime is observed, where the Curie-constant value is consistent with dimer formation. Based on mean-field calculations, the dimer formation is predicted as a function of the interaction strength between the t2g and eg electrons.

Nuclear radioactive techniques applied to materials research

In this paper we review materials characterization techniques using radioactive isotopes at the ISOLDE/CERN facility. At ISOLDE intense beams of chemically clean radioactive isotopes are provided by selective ion-sources and high-resolution isotope separators, which are coupled on-line with particle accelerators. There, new experiments are performed by an increasing number of materials researchers, which use nuclear spectroscopic techniques such as Mössbauer, perturbed angular correlations (PAC), β-NMR and emission channeling with short-lived isotopes not available elsewhere. Additionally, diffusion studies and traditionally non-radioactive techniques as deep level transient spectroscopy, Hall effect and photoluminescence measurements are performed on radioactive doped samples, providing in this way the element signature upon correlation of the time dependence of the signal with the isotope transmutation half-life. Current developments, applications and perspectives of using radioactive ion beams and techniques in solid state and biophysics research are presented with a few examples.

Orbital order at Mn and O sites and absence of Zener polaron formation in manganites

We report the doping dependence of the ground state of A-site ordered manganites below and above half doping. Energy and polarization dependence of the orbital reflection, taken by resonant soft-x-ray powder diffraction, at both Mn L(2,3) and O K edges, provides direct evidence for orbital order at Mn(3+) and oxygen sites and absence of Zener polaron formation. For x > or = 0.2 anomalous melting of the orbital order is observed, which is coupled neither to magnetic ordering nor to a structural transition, indicating a two-dimensional character of the interactions.

Magnetically induced electronic ferroelectricity in half-doped manganites

Using a joint approach of density functional theory and model calculations, we demonstrate that a prototypical charge ordered half-doped manganite La1/2Ca1/2MnO3 is multiferroic. The combination of a peculiar charge-orbital ordering and a tendency to form spin dimers breaks the inversion symmetry and leads to a ferroelectric ground state with a polarization up to several microC/cm2. The presence of improper ferroelectricity does not depend on the hotly debated structural details of this material: in the Zener-polaron structure we find a similar ferroelectric response with a large polarization of purely magnetic origin.