We report on a high-pressure Raman study on two members of the La$_{1-x}$Ca$_x$MnO$_{3-delta}$ manganite family ($x=0.20$, $delta=0$ and $delta=0.08$). The results obtained for the $delta=0$ sample show a different behavior in the low and high pressure regimes ascribed to the onset of a new pressure-activated interaction previously invoked in other manganite compounds. The comparison of our results with literature data gives further support to the identification of the Jahn-Teller active stretching mode and shows that pressure-induced octahedral symmetrization is more effective in systems exhibiting a lower metallic character. On the contrary the new interaction sets in at pressure which decreases on increasing the metallic character of the system indicating a relevant role of the Mn-Mn hopping integral in its activation.
With x-ray absorption spectroscopy we investigated the orbital reconstruction and the induced ferromagnetic moment of the interfacial Cu atoms in YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{7}$/La$_{2/3}$Ca$_{1/3}$MnO$_3$ (YBCO/LCMO) and La$_{2-x}$Sr$_{x}$CuO$_4$/La$_{2/3}$Ca$_{1/3}$MnO$_3$ (LSCO/LCMO) multilayers. We demonstrate that these electronic and magnetic proximity effects are coupled and are common to these cuprate/manganite multilayers. Moreover, we show that they are closely linked to a specific interface termination with a direct Cu-O-Mn bond. We furthermore show that the intrinsic hole doping of the cuprate layers and the local strain due to the lattice mismatch between the cuprate and manganite layers are not of primary importance. These findings underline the central role of the covalent bonding at the cuprate/manganite interface in defining the spin-electronic properties.
We report on an a $mu$SR and $^{55}$Mn NMR investigation of the magnetic order parameter as a function of temperature in the optimally doped La$_{5/8}$(Ca$_y$Sr$_{1-y}$)$_{3/8}$MnO$_3$ and in the underdoped La$_{1-x}$Sr$_{x}$MnO$_3$ and La$_{1-x}$Ca$_{x}$MnO$_3$ metallic manganite families. The study is aimed at unraveling the effect of lattice distortions, implicitly controlled by the Ca-Sr isoelectronic substitution, from that of hole doping $x$ on the Curie temperature $T_c$ and the order of the magnetic transition. At optimal doping, the transitions are second order at all $y$ values, including the $y=1$ (La$_{5/8}$Ca$_{3/8}$MnO$_3$) end member. In contrast, they are first order in the underdoped samples, which show a finite (truncated) order parameter at the Curie point, including La$_{0.75}$Sr$_{0.25}$MnO$_3$ whose $T_c$ is much higher than that of La$_{5/8}$Ca$_{3/8}$MnO$_3$. The order parameter curves, on the other hand, exhibit a very minor dependence on $x$, if truncation is excepted. This suggests that the effective exchange interaction between Mn ions is essentially governed by local distortions, in agreement with the original double-exchange model, while truncation is primarily, if not entirely, an effect of under- or overdoping. A phase diagram, separating in the $x-y$ plane polaron-driven first order transitions from regular second order transitions governed by critical fluctuations, is proposed for the La$_{1-x}($Ca$_y$Sr$_{1-y}$)$_{x}$MnO$_3$ system.
We report low temperature specific heat measurements of Pr$_{1-x}$Ca$_{x}$MnO$_{3}$ ($0.3leq x leq 0.5$) and La$_{0.5}$Ca$_{0.5}$MnO$_{3}$ with and without applied magnetic field. An excess specific heat, $C^{prime}(T)$, of non-magnetic origin associated with charge ordering is found for all the samples. A magnetic field sufficient to induce the transition from the charge-ordered state to the ferromagnetic metallic state does not completely remove the $C^{prime}$ contribution. This suggests that the charge ordering is not completely destroyed by a melting magnetic field. In addition, the specific heat of the Pr$_{1-x}$Ca$_{x}$MnO$_{3}$ compounds exhibit a large contribution linear in temperature ($gamma T$) originating from magnetic and charge disorder.
We report the temperature and magnetic field dependence of transport properties in epitaxial films of the manganite La$_{1-x}$Ca$_{x}$MnO$_{3}$ in the overdoped region of the phase diagram for $x > 0.5$, where a charge--ordered (CO) and an antiferromagnetic (AF) phase are present. Resistivity, magnetoresistance and angular dependence of magnetoresistance were measured in the temperature interval $4.2 ~mathrm{K} < T < 300 ~mathrm{K}$, for three concentrations $x = 0.52, 0.58$ and $0.75$ and in magnetic fields up to 5 T. The semiconductor/insulator--like behavior in zero field was observed in the entire temperature range for all three concentrations textit{x} and the electric conduction, at lower temperatures, in the CO state obeys 3D Motts variable--range hopping model. A huge negative magnetoresistance for $x = 0.52$ and $x = 0.58$, a metal--insulator transition for $B > 3 ~mathrm{T}$ for $x = 0.52$ and the presence of anisotropy in magnetoresistance for $x = 0.52$ and $x = 0.58$ show the fingerprints of colossal magnetoresistance (CMR) behavior implying the existence of ferromagnetic (FM) clusters. The declining influence of the FM clusters in the CO/AF part of the phase diagram with increasing $x$ contributes to a possible explanation that a phase coexistence is the origin of the CMR phenomenon.
We report new zero-field muon spin relaxation and neutron spin echo measurements in ferromagnetic (FM) (La,Ca)MnO3 which taken together suggest two spatially separated regions in close proximity possessing very different Mn-ion spin dynamics. One region corresponds to an extended cluster which displays critical slowing down near Tc and an increasing volume fraction below Tc. The second region possesses more slowly fluctuating spins and a decreasing volume fraction below Tc. These data are discussed in terms of the growth of small polarons into overlapping regions of correlated spins below Tc, resulting in a microscopically inhomogeneous FM transition.