No Arabic abstract
X-ray scattering by multiferroic LuFe2O4 is reported. Below 320 K, superstructure reflections indicate an incommensurate charge order with propagation close to (1/3,1/3,3/2). The corresponding charge configuration, also found by electronic structure calculations as most stable, contains polar Fe/O double-layers with antiferroelectric stacking. Diffuse scattering at 360 K, with (1/3,1/3,0) propagation, indicates ferroelectric short-range correlations between neighboring double-layers. The temperature dependence of the incommensuration indicates that charge order and magnetism are coupled.
We present the refinement of the crystal structure of charge-ordered LuFe2O4, based on single-crystal x-ray diffraction data. The arrangement of the different Fe-valence states, determined with bond-valence-sum analysis, corresponds to a stacking of charged Fe bilayers, in contrast to the polar bilayers previously suggested. This arrangement is supported by an analysis of x-ray magnetic circular dichroism spectra, which also evidences a strong charge-spin coupling. The non-polar bilayers are inconsistent with charge order based ferroelectricity.
The transmission electron microscopy observations of the charge ordering (CO) which governs the electronic polarization in LuFe2O4-x clearly show the presence of a remarkable phase separation at low temperatures. Two CO ground states are found to adopt the charge modulations of Q1 = (1/3, 1/3, 0) and Q2 = (1/3 + y, 1/3 + y, 3/2), respectively. Our structural study demonstrates that the incommensurately Q2-modulated state is chiefly stable in samples with relatively lower oxygen contents. Data from theoretical simulations of the diffraction suggest that both Q1- and Q2-modulated phases have ferroelectric ordering. The effects of oxygen concentration on the phase separation and electric polarization in this layered system are discussed.
The combination of charge and spin degrees of freedom with electronic correlations in condensed matter systems leads to a rich array of phenomena, such as magnetism, superconductivity, and novel conduction mechanisms. While such phenomena are observed in bulk materials, a richer array of behaviors becomes possible when these degrees of freedom are controlled in atomically layered heterostructures, where one can constrain dimensionality and impose interfacial boundary conditions. Here, we unlock a host of unique, hidden electronic and magnetic phase transitions in NdNiO$_3$ while approaching the two-dimensional (2D) limit, resulting from the differing influences of dimensional confinement and interfacial coupling. Most notably, we discover a new phase in fully 2D, single layer NdNiO$_3$, in which all signatures of the bulk magnetic and charge ordering are found to vanish. In addition, for quasi two-dimensional layers down to a thickness of two unit cells, bulk-type ordering persists but separates from the onset of insulating behavior in a manner distinct from that found in the bulk or thin film nickelates. Using resonant x-ray spectroscopies, first-principles theory, and model calculations, we propose that the single layer phase suppression results from a new mechanism of interfacial electronic reconstruction based on ionicity differences across the interface, while the phase separation in multi-layer NdNiO$_3$ emerges due to enhanced 2D fluctuations. These findings provide insights into the intertwined mechanisms of charge and spin ordering in strongly correlated systems in reduced dimensions and illustrate the ability to use atomic layering to access hidden phases.
The influence of spin-orbit coupling (SOC) on the physical properties of the 5d2 system Sr2MgOsO6 is probed via a combination of magnetometry, specific heat measurements, elastic and inelastic neutron scattering, and density functional theory calculations. Although a significant degree of frustration is expected, we find that Sr2MgOsO6 orders in a type I antiferromagnetic structure at the remarkably high temperature of 108 K. The measurements presented allow for the first accurate quantification of the size of the magnetic moment in a 5d2 system of 0.60(2) muB - a significantly reduced moment from the expected value for such a system. Furthermore, significant anisotropy is identified via a spin excitation gap, and we confirm by first principles calculations that SOC not only provides the magnetocrystalline anisotropy, but also plays a crucial role in determining both the ground state magnetic order and the size of the local moment in this compound. Through comparison to Sr2ScOsO6, it is demonstrated that SOC-induced anisotropy has the ability to relieve frustration in 5d2 systems relative to their 5d3 counterparts, providing an explanation of the high TN found in Sr2MgOsO6.
A new variational approach is proposed at zero temperature for a finite density of charge carriers in order to study ground state features of the Frohlich model including electron-electron and electron-phonon interactions. Within the intermediate electron-phonon coupling regime characteristic of large polarons, the approach takes into account on the same footing polaron formation and polaron-polaron correlations which play a relevant role going from low to high charge densities. Including fluctuations on top of the variational approach, the electronic spectral function is calculated from the weak to the intermediate electron-phonon coupling regime finding a peak-dip-hump line shape. The spectra are characterized by a transfer of spectral weight from the incoherent hump to the coherent peak with decreasing the electron-phonon coupling constant or with increasing the particle density. Three different density regimes stem out: the first, at low densities, where the features of a single large polaron with a substantial incoherent spectral weight are not modified by charge carrier interactions; a second one, at intermediate densities, where the polaronic liquid shows a rapid crossover from incoherent to coherent dynamics; the third one, at high densities, where screening effects are so prominent that the system presents a conventional metallic phase. The results obtained in the low to intermediate density regime turn out to be relevant for the interpretation of recent tunneling and photoemission experiments in SrTiO3-based systems.