Presence Of Charge Order Research Articles

Ubiquitous Charge Order Correlations in High-Temperature Superconducting Cuprates

The presence of charge order in high-transition-temperature copper oxides (high-Tc cuprates) was identified a decade ago. Now it is a universally observed order like the antiferromagnetic and the superconducting orders of the cuprates. The charge order shows up in various forms depending on materials, and it overlaps other orders in the phase diagram. Because of this diversity and complexity it has been far from clear whether or not the charge order has a direct relevance to superconductivity and to the mysterious pseudogap phenomenon. However, the research development in the last few years has been successful in revealing universal aspects of the charge order and its fluctuations. It turns out that the charge order is compatible with superconductivity, and that its fluctuations have high onset temperature and high energy scale comparable to those of the pseudogap. The charge order correlations might be indispensable for creating the pseudogap and possibly generating high-Tc superconductivity by collaborating with spin and pairing correlations.

Correlating X-ray absorption spectra and ultraviolet photoelectron spectra to understand magnetic and transport properties of charge-ordered perovskite manganites

X-ray absorption spectra and ultraviolet photoelectron spectra have been used to compare the electronic structures of (La0.6Pr0.4)0.65Ca0.35MnO3 and (La0.4Pr0.6)0.65Ca0.35MnO3 systems to understand their magnetic and transport properties. Structural analysis showed that increased Pr-substitution triggers expansion in apical Mn-O bond lengths, which eventually causes narrowing of the eg band width. (La0.6Pr0.4)0.65Ca0.35MnO3 exhibits ferromagnetic ordering below 215 K and shows semiconductor to metal transition around 212 K, while (La0.4Pr0.6)0.65Ca0.35MnO3 exhibit complex magnetic behaviour and also show local semiconductor to metal transition around 95 K before re-entering into semiconducting region again below 80 K. A slight change in the slope of resistivity around 220 K and four orders increase in resistivity indicates presence of charge-ordering in (La0.4Pr0.6)0.65Ca0.35MnO3. Moreover, (La0.4Pr0.6)0.65Ca0.35MnO3 exhibits ~ 100% magneto-resistance. X-ray absorption studies of Mn-L2,3 edge and O-K edge reveal the onset of Mn3+-Mn4+ charge-ordering in (La0.4Pr0.6)0.65Ca0.35MnO3 at room temperature. O-K edge spectra exhibits an increased spectral intensity of O2p-Mn3d(eg) states near Fermi-level for (La0.4Pr0.6)0.65Ca0.35MnO3, which reflects the number of unoccupied eg states. Valence band ultraviolet photoemission spectroscopy study revealed that Mn3d(eg) states of (La0.6Pr0.4)0.65Ca0.35MnO3 extends into conduction band by crossing-over the Fermi-level. On the other hand, (La0.4Pr0.6)0.65Ca0.35MnO3 exhibits no electronic state at Fermi-level explaining stronger semiconducting nature of x = 0.6 system than x = 0.4 near room temperature.

Variable-range hopping conductivity in (x = 0.5; y = 0, 0.02, 0.1)

The temperature dependences of the resistivity ρ(T) of ceramic samples at x = 0.5, and y = 0, 0.02 and 0.10 are investigated in the temperature range of 5-300 K in magnetic field B up to 1 T. It was found that dependences ρ(T) with x = 0.5; y = 0.02, and 0.10 obey the Shklovskii–Efros-like variable-range hopping conductivity law This behavior is governed by generation of a soft Coulomb gap Δ ≈ 0.3 eV in the density of localized states, as well as a rigid gap ≈ 0.20 and 0.17 eV at y = 0.02 and y = 0.10, respectively. The obtained values of the rigid gap at y = 0.02 indicate the presence of charge ordering. It was shown that a decrease in the width of the rigid gap when y is increased, is accompanied by both a growing disorder attributed to the presence of Fe and a decrease in lattice distortions caused by charge ordering at y = 0.02. It is shown that the pre-exponential factor of resistivity follows the law where m changes from 9/2 at y = 0.02 to 5/2 at y = 0.10. This confirms that doping with Fe enhances microscopic disorder by introducing an additional fluctuating short-range potential. The calculated values of the carrier localization radius α ≈ 5.1 and 2.7 Å at y = 0.02 and y = 0.10, respectively, satisfy the condition for the formation of small polarons.

Ferromagnetism and Charge Order from a Frozen Electron Configuration in Strained Epitaxial LaCoO_{3}.

We report ordering of the cobalt electron configuration in ferromagnetic strained epitaxial LaCoO_{3}. Specifically, the presence of charge order is demonstrated from distinct features of the resonant cobalt contribution to superstructure reflections. Density functional theory calculations show that the observed order is consistent with the spin-state periodicity predicted to give rise to ferromagnetism in LaCoO_{3}. Through the modification of symmetry by strain, concurrent frozen charge and spin-state order are stabilized, giving rise to long-range magnetic order.

Revival of Metal-Insulator and Ferromagnetic-Paramagnetic Transitions by Ni Substitution at Mn Site in Charge-Ordered Monovalent Doped Nd0.75Na0.25MnO3 Manganites

Nd0.75Na0.25Mn1−xNi x O3 (x = 0 − 0.07) were synthesized using a conventional solid-state synthesis method to investigate the effect of Ni substitution on their magnetic and electrical transport properties. XRD analysis using the Rietvield refinement method showed an increase in unit cell volume with increasing Ni content, indicating the possibility of substituting Ni for the Mn site. For x = 0, magnetization measurements showed paramagnetic (PM) to antiferromagnetic (AFM) transition at the transition temperature, TN ∼ 185 K, which may be related to the presence of charge-ordering (CO) state. For Ni-substituted samples, ferromagnetic (FM) to PM transition was induced with Curie temperature (TC), increasing from 91 K (x = 0.01) to 115 K (x = 0.03), followed by decreases in TC to 60 K (x = 0.07). Electrical resistivity measurements showed that samples for x ≤ 0.01 exhibited insulator behavior while both x = 0.03 and 0.05 samples exhibited metal-insulator transition suggesting that the CO state is weakened. For x = 0.07, the sample shows re-entrant of insulating characteristic. Inducement of FM metallic (FMM) state, as well as increased of TC for x = 0.03 is suggested to be related to FM SE between Ni2+ and Mn4+, which suppressed the CO state, hence inducing double-exchange (DE)-like mechanism. In addition, an increase in resistivity was observed as temperature decreased below the resistivity minimum (Rmin) at Tmin ∼ 40 K for x = 0.05 is possibly due to the Kondo-like effect mechanism. On one hand, the M(H) curve showed the presence of a hysteresis loop for x = 0 and 0.01 at T= 60 and 80 K, indicating the presence of an unstable phase, which may be related with the CO-AFM phase. For x = 0.03, no hysteresis loop was observed, indicating the suppression of the CO-AFM. Intriguingly, for x = 0.05 and 0.07, small hysteresis loop was observed, indicating the possible presence of a minor AFM component. Further, the observed MR behavior in present studies can be understood as a result of a decreased scattering mechanism in the presence of magnetic field.

Structural investigation of room-temperature ionic liquids and high-temperature ionic melts using triplet correlation functions

We use means of molecular dynamics simulation to understand the local structural arrangements in three trihexyltetradecylphosphonium (P6,6,6,14+) based room-temperature ionic liquids (RTILs) by using triplet correlation functions (TCFs) along with pair correlation functions (PCFs) and X-ray scattering structure functions (S(q)s). The anions in these RTILs are either spherically symmetric but with different effective sizes (bromide (Br−) and tetrafluoroborate (BF4−)) or angular such as dicyanamide (DCA−). The simulated PCFs, S(q)s, and TCFs of the three RTILs have been compared with three high-temperature ionic melts (HTIMs); NaBr, NaCl, and NaF. In general, the pair correlation function gives angle-averaged probability as a function of inter-particle distance whereas the TCFs associated with equilateral and isosceles triangle configurations can be used to delineate angle-resolved information of liquids structure within nearest solvation shells. For the three ionic liquids studied, a very careful examination of co-ionic and counter-ionic TCFs associated with the equilateral triangular configuration within the nearest solvation shells of the ions reveals that co-ions (cat-cat-cat and an-an-an) favor close-packed local arrangement, but with lower probability for the DCA− RTIL. Co-ionic and counter-ionic TCFs obtained for HTIMs are found to be similar to that of RTILs with spherical anions. The TCFs associated with the isosceles triangle configuration signify that the ionic liquid with Br− anions tends to exhibit larger anion-cation-anion angle than that in the other two RTILs. Moreover, diffused counter-ionic angular correlations are observed in the DCA− system. We also observed angle-dependent charge ordering in all the three RTILs although its extent is enhanced for RTILs with spherical anions, very similar to what we find for NaBr, NaCl, and NaF melts. This study suggests that the presence of charge ordering is a generic feature of both the RTILs and HTIMs.

Isotope effect on the superconducting critical temperature of cuprates in the presence of charge order

Using the large-N limit of the t–J model and also allowing for phonons and the electron–phonon interaction, we study the isotope effect α for coupling constants appropriate for YB2C3Oy. We find that α has a minimum at optimal doping and increases strongly (slightly) towards the underdoped (overdoped) region. Using values for the electron–phonon interaction from the local density approximation we get good agreement for α as a function of Tc and doping δ with recent experimental data in YB2C3Oy. Our results strongly suggest that the large increase of α in the underdoped region is (a) caused by the shift of electronic spectral density from low to high energies associated with a competing phase (in our case a charge density wave) and the formation of a gap, and (b) compatible with the small electron–phonon coupling constants obtained from the local density approximation. We propose a similar explanation for the anomalous behavior of α in Sr-doped La2CuO4 near the doping 1/8.

Internal friction study of the phase transition inGdBaCo2O5+δbulk materials

The internal friction and shear modulus at low frequency together with the electrical and magnetic properties have been measured for an ordered oxygen-deficient perovskite ${\mathrm{GdBaCo}}_{2}{\mathrm{O}}_{5+\ensuremath{\delta}}$ ceramics ($\ensuremath{\delta}=0.005$, 0.499, and 0.515). For $\ensuremath{\delta}=0.005$, an internal friction peak at $225\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{K}$ and the corresponding softening of shear modulus were observed, showing the existence of lattice distortion. This lattice distortion indicates the presence of charge ordering, which conforms to the slight upturn on the electrical resistivity curve. The anomalies in shear modulus and the internal friction peak at about ${T}_{\mathrm{CO}}$ were suggested to be correlated with the structure change caused by the Jahn-Teller effect of ${\mathrm{Co}}^{3+}$ (HS state) located in square pyramidal sites. For $\ensuremath{\delta}=0.499$ and 0.515, a large softening of shear modulus accompanied by an increasing of internal friction was observed at low temperature, which is related to the antiferromagnetic-ferromagnetic transition. And the internal friction peak with the features of phase transition at about $350\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{K}$ can be ascribed the metal-insulator transition. At high temperature, the relaxation internal friction peak accompanied by the corresponding decrease of shear modulus originates from the oxygen hopping in $[{\mathrm{GdO}}_{\ensuremath{\delta}}]$ planes.

Charging effects and quantum crossover in granular superconductors.

The effects of the charging energy in the superconducting transition of granular materials or Josephson-junction arrays are investigated using a pseudo-spin-one model. Within a mean-field renormalization-group approach, we obtain the phase diagram as a function of temperature and charging energy. In contrast to earlier treatments, we find no sign of a reentrant transition in agreement with more recent studies. A crossover line is identified in the nonsuperconducting side of the phase diagram and along which we expect to observe anomalies in the transport and thermodynamic properties. We also study a charge ordering phase, which can appear for large nearest-neighbor Coulomb interaction, and show that it leads to first-order transitions at low temperatures. We argue that, in the presence of charge ordering, a nonmonotonic behavior with decreasing temperature is possible with a maximum in the resistance just before entering the superconducting phase.