Optimization of Pr(0.9)Ca(0.1)MnO(3) thin films and observation of coexisting spin-glass and ferromagnetic phases at low temperature

High-Temperature Ferroic Glassy States in SrTiO_{3}-Based Thin Films

Disordered ferroics hold great promise for next-generation magnetoelectric devices because their lack of symmetry constraints implies negligible hysteresis with low energy costs. However, the transition temperature and the magnitude of polarization and magnetization are still too low to meet application requirements. Here, taking the prototype perovskite of SrTiO_{3} as an instance, we realize a coexisting spin and dipole reentrant glass states in SrTiO_{3} homoepitaxial films via manipulation of local symmetry. Room-temperature saturation magnetization and spontaneous polarization reach ∼ 10  emu/cm^{3} and ∼ 25  μC/cm^{2}, respectively, with high transition temperatures (101 K and 236 K for spin and dipole glass temperatures and 556 K and 1100 K for Curie temperatures, respectively). Our atomic-scale investigation points out an underlying mechanism, where the Ti/O-defective unit cells break the local translational and orbital symmetry to drive the formation of unusual slush states. This study advances our understanding of the nature of the intricate couplings of ferroic glasses. Our approach could be applied to numerous perovskite oxides for the simultaneous control of the local magnetic and polar orderings and for the exploration of the underlying physics.

Unusual bidirectional frequency dependence of dynamical susceptibility in hexagonal intermetallic Pr2Ni0.95Si2.95

In this study, the synthesis of a novel ternary intermetallic compound Pr₂Ni_0.95Si_2.95 forming in single phase only by deliberately introducing vacancies in Ni/Si site is reported. The detailed studies on dc magnetization, heat capacity, ac magnetization & associated dynamical scaling, different types of non-equilibrium dynamical behaviour, viz., magnetic relaxation behaviour as a function of wait time and temperature, aging phenomena, and magnetic memory effect firmly establish that the compound exhibits spin freezing behaviour below 3.3 K (T_f). However, below T_f, temperature dependence of ac susceptibility data exhibit an additional peak that shows reverse frequency dependence to that generally observed in a glassy system. The unusual bidirectional frequency dependence in a single magnetic system is of significant interest and rarely reported in literature. Competing exchange interaction arising from c/a ~ 1 and crystallographic randomness driven magnetic phase separation has been argued to be responsible for such observation. The reverse frequency shift of the low temperature peak has been described on the basis of a simple phenomenological model proposed in this work.

The effect of oxygen on the Jahn-Teller distortion and magnetization dynamics of Pr0.9Ca0.1MnO3 thin films

We report on the effect of oxygen on the Jahn-Teller distortion and dynamic magnetic properties of low hole-doped Pr(0.9)Ca(0.1)MnO(3) thin films, using micro-Raman spectroscopy and the temperature dependent ac susceptibility, as a function of the frequency, dc field bias, and thermal cycles. The as-grown and vacuum annealed thin films show a high amount of magnetic frustration and inferior ferromagnetic ordering compared with the oxygen annealed thin films. It has been found that the amount of magnetic frustration in the film is interlinked with the Jahn-Teller distortion and domain wall dynamics. An attempt has been made to understand the origin and nature of the magnetic frustration.

Irreversible metamagnetic transition and magnetic memory in small-bandwidth manganite Pr(1-x)Ca(x)MnO3 (x = 0.0-0.5)

The present paper reports detailed structural and magnetic characterization of the low-bandwidth manganite Pr(1-x)Ca(x)MnO(3) (with x = 0.0-0.5) (PCMO) polycrystalline samples. With increasing Ca content, reduction of the unit cell volume and improvement in perovskite structure symmetry was observed at room temperature. Magnetic characterization shows the signature of coexisting AFM-FM ordering and spin-glass phase at the low doping range (x = 0.0-0.2) while increased hole doping (x = 0.3-0.5) leads to charge ordering, training effect and an irreversible metamagnetic phenomenon. The large irreversible metamagnetism in the CO phase of PCMO and the corresponding spin memory effect is a direct consequence of hysteretic first-order phase transition arising from the weakening of the CO state under the external magnetic field and trapping of the spins due to a strong pinning potential in the material.

Evolution of structural and magnetic properties with varying oxygen content in low-bandwidth manganite Pr0.9Ca0.1MnO3 thin films

The effects of ex situ vacuum and oxygen annealing treatments on thin films of the low-bandwidth compound Pr(1-x)Ca(x)MnO(3) (PCMO) are investigated. Structural and magnetic measurements reveal that increased ferromagnetism can be achieved by oxygen annealing treatment, which is linked to the increased Mn(4+) ion content, as observed from x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements, as well as relaxation of the substrate-induced tensile strain of the PCMO unit cell. The increased number of Mn(4+) ions and partial release of strain lead to stronger double-exchange interaction in the system. Vacuum annealing increases the ferromagnetic (FM) interaction as well; however, the increased FM ordering is not directly related to the improved double-exchange interaction, as XPS measurement reveals an indication of a slight increase in Mn(3+) ions in this case. Trapping of carriers in the oxygen vacancies and formation of magnetic polarons have been suggested as the causes of the increase in ferromagnetic ordering, and this is also supported by the large coercivity and longer spin memory in the vacuum annealed PCMO.

Persistent photoinduced magnetization in the coexisting spin-glass and ferromagnetic phases of Pr₀.₉Ca₀.₁MnO₃ thin film

The persistent photoinduced magnetization (PPM) in the low bandwidth material Pr(1-x)Ca(x)MnO₃ at the low hole doping level of x = 0.1 is reported. Upon zero-field cooling under photoexcitation, significant improvement of the ferromagnetic (FM) ordering was observed in the low temperature spin-glass phase. However, upon field cooling, the FM ordering was found to be suppressed due to weakening of the double-exchange interaction. High kinetic energy x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements indicated a slight increase in the Mn³⁺ peak under photoexcitation which clarifies the weakening of the FM interaction. The fast relaxation of the PPM is discussed in view of localization of spin polarons in sites of magnetic disorders and the results are compared with previous reports of PPM in intermediate bandwidth Pr₀.₉Ca₀.₁MnO₃ samples.