No Arabic abstract
We report detailed dc magnetization, linear and non-linear ac susceptibility measurements on the hole doped disordered cobaltite La$_{0.5}$Ba$_{0.5}$CoO$_3$. Our results show that the magnetically ordered state of the system consists of coexisting non-ferromagnetic phases along with percolating ferromagnetic-clusters. The percolating ferromagnetic-clusters possibly start a magnetic ordering at the Curie temperature of 201.5(5)~K. The non-ferromagnetic phases mainly consist of antiferromagnetic-clusters with size smaller than the ferromagnetic-clusters. Below Curie temperature the system exhibits an irreversibility in the field cooled and zero field cooled magnetization and frequency dependence in the peak of ac susceptibility. These dynamical features indicate towards the possible coexistence of spin-glass phase along with ferromagnetic-clusters similar to La$_{1-x}$Sr$_{x}$CoO$_3$ (x$geq$0.18), but the absence of field divergence in third harmonic of ac susceptibility and zero field cooled memory clearly rule out any such possibility. We argue that the spin-glass phase in La$_{1-x}$Sr$_{x}$CoO$_3$ (x$geq$0.18) is associated with the presence of incommensurate antiferromagnetic ordering in non-ferromagnetic phases which is absent in La$_{0.5}$Ba$_{0.5}$CoO$_3$. Our analysis show that the observed dynamical features in La$_{0.5}$Ba$_{0.5}$CoO$_3$ are possibly due to progressive thermal blocking of ferromagnetic-clusters which is further confirmed by the Wohlfarths model of superparamagnetism. The frequency dependence of the peak of ac susceptibility obeys the Vogel-Fulcher law with $tau_0approx10^{-9}$s. This together with the existence of an AT line in H-T space indicates the presence of significant inter-cluster interaction among these ferromagnetic-clusters.
We report detailed dc magnetization, linear and non-linear ac susceptibility measurements on the hole doped disordered cobaltite La$_{0.5}$Ba$_{0.5}$CoO$_3$. Our results show that the magnetically ordered state of the system consists of coexisting non-ferromagnetic phases along with percolating ferromagnetic-clusters. The percolating ferromagnetic-clusters possibly undergo a 3D Hisenberg like magnetic ordering at the Curie temperature of 202(3) K. In between 202 and 220 K, the linear and non-linear ac susceptibility measurements show the presence of magnetic correlations even when the spontaneous magnetization is zero which indicates the presence of preformed short range magnetic-clusters. The characteristics of these short range magnetic-clusters that exist above Curie temperature are quite distinct than that of Griffiths phase e.g the inverse dc susceptibility exhibits an field independent upward deviation, and the second harmonic of ac susceptibility is non-negative. Below Curie temperature the system exhibit spin-glass like features such as irreversibility in the field cooled and zero field cooled magnetization and frequency dependence in the peak of ac susceptibility. The presence of a spin or cluster -glass like state is ruled out by the absence of field divergence in third harmonic of ac susceptibility and zero field cooled memory. This indicates that the observed spin-glass like features are possibility due to progressive thermal blocking of ferromagnetic-clusters which is further confirmed by the Wohlfarths model of superparamagnetism. The frequency dependence of the peak of ac susceptibility obeys the Vogel-Fulcher law with $tau_0approx 10^{-9}$ s. This together with the existence of an AT line in H-T space indicates the existence of significant inter-cluster interaction among these ferromagnetic-clusters.
We have used high-resolution Extended X-ray Absorption Fine-Structure and diffraction techniques to measure the local structure of strained La$_{0.5}$Sr$_{0.5}$CoO$_3$ films under compression and tension. The lattice mismatch strain in these compounds affects both the bond lengths and the bond angles, though the larger effect on the bandwidth is due to the bond length changes. The popular double exchange model for ferromagnetism in these compounds provides a correct qualitative description of the changes in Curie temperature $T_C$, but quantitatively underestimates the changes. A microscopic model for ferromagnetism that provides a much stronger dependence on the structural distortions is needed.
We report the magnetization study of the compound La$_{0.75}$Ba$_{0.25}$CoO$_3$ where Ba$^{2+}$ doping is just above the critical limit for percolation of ferromagnetic clusters. The field cooled (FC) and zero field cooled (ZFC) magnetization exhibit a thermomagnetic irreversibility and the ac susceptibility show a frequency dependent peak at the ferromagnetic ordering temperature (T$_C$$approx$203~K) of the clusters. These features indicate about the presence of a non-equilibrium state below T$_C$. In the non-equilibrium state, the dynamic scaling of the imaginary part of ac susceptibility and the static scaling of the nonlinear susceptibility clearly establish a spin-glass like cooperative freezing of ferromagnetic clusters at 200.9(2)~K. The existence of spin-glass like freezing of ferromagnetic clusters is further substantiated by the ZFC aging and memory experiments. We also observe certain dynamical features which are not present in a typical spin-glass, such as, initial magnetization after ZFC aging first increases and then decreases with the wait time and an imperfect recovery of relaxation in negative temperature cycling experiments. This imperfect recovery transforms to perfect recovery on concurrent field cycling. Our analysis suggests that these additional dynamical features have their origin in inter-cluster exchange interaction and cluster size distribution. The inter-cluster exchange interaction above the magnetic percolation gives a superferromagnetic state in some granular thin films but our results show the absence of typical superferromagnetic like state in La$_{0.75}$Ba$_{0.25}$CoO$_3$.
We studied the charge-orbital ordering in the superlattice of charge-ordered insulating Pr$_{0.5}$Ca$_{0.5}$MnO$_3$ and ferromagnetic metallic La$_{0.5}$Sr$_{0.5}$MnO$_3$ by resonant soft x-ray diffraction. A temperature-dependent incommensurability is found in the orbital order. In addition, a large hysteresis is observed that is caused by phase competition between insulating charge ordered and metallic ferromagnetic states. No magnetic phase transitions are observed in contrast to bulk, confirming the unique character of the superlattice. The deviation from the commensurate orbital order can be directly related to the decrease of ordered-layer thickness that leads to a decoupling of the orbital-ordered planes along the c axis.
We use a combination of dynamical mean-field model calculations and LDA+U material specific calculations to investigate the low temperature phase transition in the compounds from the (Pr$_{1-y}$R$_y$)$_x$Ca$_{1-x}$CoO$_3$ (R=Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Y) family (PCCO). The transition, marked by a sharp peak in the specific heat, leads to an exponential increase of dc resistivity and a drop of the magnetic susceptibility, but no order parameter has been identified yet. We show that condensation of spin-triplet, atomic-size excitons provides a consistent explanation of the observed physics. In particular, it explains the exchange splitting on the Pr sites and the simultaneous Pr valence transition. The excitonic condensation in PCCO is an example of a general behavior expected in certain systems in the proximity of a spin-state transition.