Variation of electronic structure inLa1−xSrxMnO3f(0⩽x⩽0.3) as investigated by optical conductivity spectra

Abstract

Optical conductivity spectra and their variation with temperature and doping level x have been investigated for single crystals of ${\mathrm{La}}_{1\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}\mathrm{x}}$${\mathrm{Sr}}_{\mathrm{x}}$${\mathrm{MnO}}_{3}$n(0\ensuremath{\leqslant}x\ensuremath{\leqslant}0.3). For the low-doped insulating crystal (x=0.1) which shows a ferromagnetic insulating state at low temperature, the spectral weight of the optical conductivity increases only in the inner-gap region around 0.5 eV, but no Drude part emerges due to carrier localization effect. For x\ensuremath{\geqslant}0.17, where the low-temperature ferromagnetic metallic state shows up, the optical conductivity spectrum above ${\mathrm{T}}_{\mathrm{c}}$ is characterized by interband transitions between the exchange-split conduction bands, and it gradually changes into that of intraband excitations below ${\mathrm{T}}_{\mathrm{c}}$. The energy scale (up to \ensuremath{\approx}2 eV) of the spectral weight transfer is determined by the effective Hund's-rule coupling energy. In the metallic phase, low-energy spectra arising from intraband excitations can be sorted into two parts: One is a nearly \ensuremath{\omega}-independent broad structure (incoherent part), and the other a sharp coherent Drude peak with anomalously low spectral weight. This can hardly be reconciled with the simple double-exchange theory, but indicates that another degree of freedom (e.g., the orbital ordering and/or electron-lattice interactions) should be taken into account.