No Arabic abstract
Using ultrafast optical spectroscopy, we show that polaronic behavior associated with interfacial antiferromagnetic order is likely the origin of tunable magnetotransport upon switching the ferroelectric polarity in a La$_{0.7}$Ca$_{0.3}$MnO$_{3}$/BiFeO$_{3}$ (LCMO/BFO) heterostructure. This is revealed through the difference in dynamic spectral weight transfer between LCMO and LCMO/BFO at low temperatures, which indicates that transport in LCMO/BFO is polaronic in nature. This polaronic feature in LCMO/BFO decreases in relatively high magnetic fields due to the increased spin alignment, while no discernible change is found in the LCMO film at low temperatures. These results thus shed new light on the intrinsic mechanisms governing magnetoelectric coupling in this heterostructure, potentially offering a new route to enhancing multiferroic functionality.
Using polarized neutron reflectometry (PNR), we observe an induced magnetization of 75$pm$ 25 kA/m at 10 K in a La$_{0.7}$Sr$_{0.3}$MnO$_3$ (LSMO)/BiFeO$_3$ superlattice extending from the interface through several atomic layers of the BiFeO$_3$ (BFO). The induced magnetization in BFO is explained by density functional theory, where the size of bandgap of BFO plays an important role. Considering a classical exchange field between the LSMO and BFO layers, we further show that magnetization is expected to extend throughout the BFO, which provides a theoretical explanation for the results of the neutron scattering experiment.
Among colossal magnetoresistive manganites the prototypical ferromagnetic manganite La$_{0.7}$Sr$_{0.3}$MnO$_{3}$ has a relatively small magnetoresistance, and has been long assumed to have only weak electron-lattice coupling. Here we report that La$_{0.7}$Sr$_{0.3}$MnO$_{3}$ has strong electron-phonon coupling: Our neutron and x-ray scattering experiments show strong softening and broadening of transverse acoustic phonons on heating through the Curie temperature T$_C$ = 350 K. Simultaneously, we observe two phases where metallic resistivity and polarons coexist. The ferromagnetic polaronic metal phase between 200 K and T$_C$ is characterized by quasielastic scattering from dynamic CE-type polarons with the relatively short lifetime of $mathbf{tau}approx 1,rm{ps}$. This scattering is greatly enhanced above T$_C$ in the paramagnetic polaronic metal phase. Our results suggest that the strength of magnetoresistance in manganites scales with the inverse of polaron lifetime, not the strength of electron-phonon coupling.
A field-induced crossover is observed in the resistivity and magnetization (M) of a La(0.7)Pb(0.3)MnO(3) single crystal. The field-dependence of the resistivity and M suggests that a small spin-canted species with mean-field-like interactions dominates at low fields (H), whereas, individual spins and 3D Ising/Heisenberg models describe the high-H behavior rather well. Around the ferromagnetic transition, an H-induced destruction of the small spin-canted magnetic polarons is accompanied by large magnetoresistance.
We report on first principles calculations of the electronic structure of La$_{0.7}$Sr$_{0.3}$MnO$_{3}$/SrTiO$_{3}$ junction with two possible types of interface terminations. We find that the La$_{0.7}$Sr$_{0.3}$O/TiO$_{2}$ interface preserves the interlayer ferromagnetic coupling between the interface MnO$_{2}$ layer and the bulk. The other interface, MnO$_{2}$/SrO, favours antiferromagnetic coupling with the bulk. By inserting two unit cells of undoped LaMnO$_{3}$ at the interface the ferromagnetism is recovered. This is understood in terms of the doping level and the mobility of carriers near the interface.
Due to the complex interplay of magnetic, structural, electronic, and orbital degrees of freedom, biaxial strain is known to play an essential role in the doped manganites. For coherently strained La(2/3)Ca(1/3)MnO(3) thin films grown on SrTiO(3) substrates, we measured the magnetotransport properties both parallel and perpendicular to the substrate and found an anomaly of the electrical transport properties. Whereas metallic behavior is found within the plane of biaxial strain, for transport perpendicular to this plane an insulating behavior and non-linear current-voltage characteristics (IVCs) are observed. The most natural explanation of this anisotropy is a strain induced transition from an orbitally disordered ferromagnetic state to an orbitally ordered state associated with antiferromagnetic stacking of ferromagnetic manganese oxide planes.