Dr Dharmalingam Prabhakaran

Abstract:

The magnetic structures which endow TbMnO3 with its multiferroic properties have been reassessed on the basis of a comprehensive soft x-ray resonant scattering (XRS) study. The selectivity of XRS facilitated separation of the various contributions (Mn L2 edge, Mn 3d moments; Tb M4 edge, Tb 4f moments), while its variation with azimuth provided information on the moment direction of distinct Fourier components. When the data are combined with a detailed group theory analysis, a new picture emerges of the ferroelectric transition at 28 K. Instead of being driven by the transition from a collinear to a noncollinear magnetic structure, as has previously been supposed, it is shown to occur between two noncollinear structures. © 2009 The American Physical Society.

Abstract:

Photoemission data taken with hard x-ray radiation on cleaved single crystals of the bilayered, colossal magnetoresistant manganite La 2-2xSr 1+2xMn 2O 7 (LSMO) with 0.30≤x<0.50 are presented. Making use of the increased bulk sensitivity upon hard x-ray excitation it is shown that the core-level footprint of the electronic structure of the LSMO cleavage surface is identical to that of the bulk. Furthermore, by comparing the core-level shift of the different elements as a function of doping level x, it is shown that microscopic phase separation is unlikely to occur for this particular manganite well above the Curie temperature. © 2009 The American Physical Society.

Abstract:

A detailed spectroscopic and structural characterization of ultrathin cobalt oxide films grown by O-assisted molecular-beam epitaxy on α- Al22 O3 (0001) single crystals is reported. The experimental results show that the cobalt oxide films become progressively more disordered with increasing thickness, starting from the early stages of deposition. Low-energy electron-diffraction patterns suggest that the unit cell remains similar to that of α -Al22 O3 (0001) up to a thickness of 17Å, while at larger thicknesses a pattern identified with that of Co3 O4(111) becomes visible. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy reveals sudden changes in the shape of the Co2p lines from 3.4 to 17Å cobalt oxide thickness, indicating the transition from an interfacial cobalt oxide layer toward [111]-oriented Co3 O4. In particular, the absence of characteristic satellite peaks in the Co 2p lines indicates the formation of a trivalent, octahedrally coordinated, interfacial cobalt oxide layer during the early stages of growth, identified as the Co 3 O4 corundum phase. © 2009 The American Physical Society.

Abstract:

Spin-ice materials are magnetic substances in which the spin directions map onto hydrogen positions in water ice. Their low-temperature magnetic state has been predicted to be a phase that obeys a Gauss' law and supports magnetic monopole excitations: in short, a Coulomb phase. We used polarized neutron scattering to show that the spin-ice material Ho2Ti2O7 exhibits an almost perfect Coulomb phase. Our result proves the existence of such phases in magnetic materials and strongly supports the magnetic monopole theory of spin ice.

Abstract:

We describe neutron-scattering experiments performed to investigate the magnetic order and dynamics of half-doped La1.5Sr0.5CoO4. This layered perovskite exhibits a near-ideal checkerboard pattern of Co2+/Co3+ charge order at temperatures below ~800 K. Magnetic correlations are observed at temperatures below ~60 K but the magnetic order only becomes established at 31 K, a temperature at which a kink is observed in the susceptibility. On warming above 31 K we observed a change in the magnetic correlations which we attribute either to a spin canting or to a change in the proportion of inequivalent magnetic domains. The magnetic excitation spectrum is dominated by an intense band extending above a gap of approximately 3 meV up to a maximum energy of 16 meV. A weaker band exists in the energy range of 20–30 meV. We show that the excitation spectrum is in excellent quantitative agreement with the predictions of a spin-wave theory generalized to include the full magnetic degrees of freedom of high-spin Co2+ ions in an axially distorted crystal field, coupled by Heisenberg exchange interactions. The magnetic order is found to be stabilized by dominant antiferromagnetic Co2+–Co2+ interactions acting in a straight line through Co3+. No evidence is found for magnetic scattering from the Co3+ ions, supporting the view that Co3+ is in the S=0 state in this material.