Magnetism in quasi-two-dimensional tri-layer La$_{2.1}$Sr$_{1.9}$Mn$_3$O$_{10}$ manganite

Abstract

The tri-layer La$_{3-3x}$Sr$_{1+3x}$Mn$_{3}$O$_{10}$ manganites of Ruddlesden-Popper (RP) series are naturally arranged layered structure with alternate stacking of m-MnO$_2$ (m = 3) planes and rock-salt type block layers (La, Sr)$_2$O$_2$ along c-axis. The dimensionality of the RP series manganites depends on the number of perovskite layers and significantly affects the magnetic and transport properties of the system. The tri-layer La$_{2.1}$Sr$_{1.9}$Mn$_{3}$O$_{10}$ shows second-order magnetic phase transition. The critical behavior of phase transition has been studied around the transition temperature (T$_C$) to understand the low dimensional magnetism in tri-layer La$_{2.1}$Sr$_{1.9}$Mn$_{3}$O$_{10}$ of the Ruddlesden-Popper series manganites. We have determined the critical exponents for tri-layer La$_{2.1}$Sr$_{1.9}$Mn$_{3}$O$_{10}$, which belong to the short-range two-dimensional (2D)-Ising universality class. The low dimensional magnetism in tri-layer La$_{2.1}$Sr$_{1.9}$Mn$_{3}$O$_{10}$ manganite is also explained with the help of renormalization group theoretical approach for short-range 2D-Ising systems. It has been shown that the layered structure of tri-layer La$_{2.1}$Sr$_{1.9}$Mn$_{3}$O$_{10}$ results in three different type of interactions intra-planer ($ J_{ab} $), intra-tri-layer ($ J_{c} $) and inter-tri-layer ($ J' $) such that $ J_{ab} $ $ > $ $ J_{c} $ $ >> $$ J' $ and competition among these give rise to the canted antiferromagnetic spin structure above T$ _{C} $. Based on the similar magnetic interaction in bi-layer manganite, we propose that the tri-layer La$_{2.1}$Sr$_{1.9}$Mn$_{3}$O$_{10}$ should be able to host the skyrmion below T$ _{C} $ due to its strong anisotropy and layered structure.