arXiv subjects

Ch. Simon

Publications and source records attributed to Ch. Simon.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2013

Gigantic magnetic field polarization and magnetoelectric coupling in a ferrimagnetic oxide CaBaCo4O7

The single crystal study of CaBaCo4O7, a non collinear ferrimagnet (TC=64K), with a polar orthorhombic space group (Pbn21) between 4 K and 293 K, shows the appearance below TC of a large electric polarization along its c axis, reaching 17mC.m-2 at 10K. At 62.5K, a magnetic field driven giant variation of polarization, P(9T)-P(0T)=8mC.m-2, is observed. Moreover, the present magnetoelectric measurements, are fully consistent with the m'm2' magnetic point group, strongly supporting that this oxide is also ferrotoroidic. This ferrimagnetic oxide, which belongs to the '114' structural family, opens an avenue for the search of new magnetoelectrics.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2010

Multiferroicity and hydrogen-bond ordering in (C2H5NH3)2CuCl4 featuring dominant ferromagnetic interactions

We demonstrate that ethylammonium copper chloride, (C2H5NH3)2CuCl4, a member of the hybrid perovskite family is an electrically polar and magnetic compound with dielectric anomaly around the Curie point (247 K). We have found large spontaneous electric polarization below this point accompanied with a color change in the sample. The system is also ferroelectric, with large remnant polarization (37{\mu}C/cm2) that is comparable to classical ferroelectric compounds. The results are ascribed to hydrogen-bond ordering of the organic chains. The coexistence of ferroelectricity and dominant ferromagnetic interactions allows to relate the sample to a rare group of magnetic multiferroic compounds. In such hybrid perovskites the underlying hydrogen bonding of easily tunable organic building blocks in combination with the 3d transition-metal layers offers an emerging pathway to engineer multifuctional multiferroics.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2009

Magnetoelectric interactions in polycrystalline multiferroic antiferromagnets CuFe(1-x)RhxO2 (x=0.00 and x=0.05)

Magnetoelectric coupling in the polycrystalline antiferromagnets CuFe0.95Rh0.05O2 and CuFeO2 has been investigated. For both samples, electric polarization was observed in the absence of an applied external magnetic field demonstrating that for multiferroic research ceramics are worth to be studied. The observed magnetodielectric effect for CuFe0.95Rh0.05O2 in the electrically polar phase supports the existence of a noncollinear antiferromagnetic state. Interestingly, the electric polarization of this sample can be suppressed by a magnetic field. The temperature dependence of the relative magnitude of the magnetodielectric effect shows a discontinuity, clearly indicating different mechanisms of the magnetodielectric couplings in polar and paraelectric antiferromagnetic states.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2009

Structure of the flux lines lattice in NbSe2: Equilibrium state and influence of the magnetic history

We have performed small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) of the flux line lattice (FLL) in a Fe doped NbSe_2 sample which presents a large peak effect in the critical current. The scattered intensity and the width of the Bragg peaks of the equilibrium FLL indicate an ordered structure in the peak effect zone. The history dependence in the FLL structure has been studied using field cooled and zero field cooled procedures, and each state shows the same intensity of Bragg scattering and good orientational order. These results strongly suggest that the peak effect is unrelated to a bulk disordering transition, and confirm the role of a heterogeneous distribution of screening current.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2009

Multiferroicity with high-Tc in ceramics of the YBaCuFeO5 ordered perovskite

A dielectric anomaly has been found near the incommensurate to commensurate antiferromagnetic phase transition (TN2=230 K) in YBaCuFeO5 ceramics, a compound which crystallizes in an ordered perovskite structure. The existence of electric polarization below TN2 suggests the magnetism induced charge polarization effect that is also confirmed by its strong magnetic field dependence below TN2. Accordingly, the peak near TN2 of the magnetodielectric effect indicates a maximum of magnetodielectric susceptibility near the spin reorientation transition. Considering the abundance of magnetic compounds which structures derive from the perovskite, these results might open up the way toward the control of electric polarization near room temperature.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2008

Anomaly in Nonlinear Magnetoelectric Response of YbMnO3

We observe a seemingly complex magnetic field dependence of dielectric constant of hexagonal YbMnO3 near the spin ordering temperature. After rescaling, the data taken at different temperatures and magnetic fields collapse on a single curve describing the sharp anomaly in nonlinear magnetoelectric response at the magnetic transition. We show that this anomaly is a result of the competition between two magnetic phases. The scaling and the shape of the anomaly are explained using the phenomenological Landau description of the competing phases in hexagonal manganites.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2008

Small angle neutron scattering study of the step-like magnetic transformation in Pr0.70Ca0.30MnO3

Small angle neutron scattering (SANS) magnetic and electrical transport measurements were performed to study a single crystal of Pr0.7Ca0.3MnO3, a colossal magnetoresistive (CMR) material. While the magnetic field induced transformation of this phase separated compound consisting of an antiferromagnetic insulating phase (AFI) and a ferromagnetic insulating phase (FI), is continuous at high temperature (above 5K), at lower temperature a step like transformation is observed (around 5T at 2K). Macroscopic magnetization measurements and SANS indicate that this transformation occurs by the formation of mesoscopic ferromagnetic metallic (FM) domains in the AFI phase, and, eventually, in the FI phase. Although above 5K this transformation is continuous, below 5K a magnetization step marks the abrupt transition from a large scale FI/AFI phase separation to a large scale phase separation between AFI, FI and FM phases. Our results suggest that relaxation of elastic strains inherent to the coexistence of these different phases plays a crucial role in the mechanism of these transformations. The occurrence of magnetization steps could result from an intrinsic behavior of the AFI phase at low temperature.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2007

Thickness-dependence of the electronic properties in V2O3 thin films

High quality vanadium sesquioxide V2O3 films (170-1100 Å) were grown using the pulsed laser deposition technique on (0001)-oriented sapphire substrates, and the effects of film thickness on the lattice strain and electronic properties were examined. X-ray diffraction indicates that there is an in-plane compressive lattice parameter (a), close to -3.5% with respect to the substrate and an out-of-plane tensile lattice parameter (c) . The thin film samples display metallic character between 2-300 K, and no metal-to-insulator transition is observed. At low temperature, the V2O3 films behave as a strongly correlated metal, and the resistivity (ρ) follows the equation ρ=ρ_0 + A T^2, where A is the transport coefficient in a Fermi liquid. Typical values of A have been calculated to be 0.14 μΩcm K^{-2}, which is in agreement with the coefficient reported for V2O3 single crystals under high pressure. Moreover, a strong temperature-dependence of the Hall resistance confirms the electronic correlations of these V2O3 thin films samples.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2007

Absence of long-range Ni/Mn ordering in ferromagnetic La2NiMnO6 thin films

Epitaxial La2NiMnO6 thin films have been grown on (001)-oriented SrTiO3 using the PLD technique. The thin films are semiconducting and FM with a TC close to 270K, a coercive field of 920Oe, and a saturation magnetization of 5muB per f.u. TEM, conducted at RT, reveals a majority phase having "I-centered" structure with a=c=1.4asub and b=2asub along with a minority phase-domains having "P-type" structure (asub being the lattice parameter of the perovskite structure). A discusion on the presence of Ni/Mn long-range ordering, in light of recent literature on double perovskites La2NiMnO6 is presented.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2006

Enhancement of ferromagnetism by nickel doping in the 112 cobaltite EuBaCo2O5.50

The study of the ordered oxygen deficient perovskite EuBaCo2-xNixO5.50 shows that the doping of cobalt sites by nickel induces a strong ferromagnetic component at low temperature in the antiferromagnetic matrix of EuBaCo2O5.50. This system exhibits indeed phase separation, i.e. consists of ferromagnetic domains embedded in the antiferromagnetic matrix of EuBaCo2O5.50. Besides, a magnetic transition is observed for the first time at 40K in the undoped and nickel doped phases, which can be attributed to the ferromagnetic ordering of the Eu3+ moments below this temperature. Moreover sharp ultra magnetization multisteps are observed below 5K, characteristic of motion of domain walls in a strong pinning system and very different from any metamagnetic transition.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2006

Strain induced pressure effect in pulsed laser deposited thin films of the strongly correlated oxide V2O3

V2O3 thin films about 10 nm thick were grown on Al2O3 (0001) by pulsed laser deposition. The XRD analysis is in agreement with R-3c space group. Some of them exhibit the metal / insulator transition characteristic of V2O3 bulk material and others samples exhibit a metallic behavior. For the latter, the XPS analysis indicates an oxidation state of +III for vanadium. There is no metal / insulator transition around 150 K in this sample and a strongly correlated Fermi liquid rho = AT2 behavior of the resistivity at low temperature is observed, with a value of A of 1.2 10-4 ohm cm, 3 times larger than the bulk value at 25 kbar.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2006

Scaling behavior in thermoelectric misfit cobalt oxides

We investigate both thermoelectric and thermodynamic properties of the misfit cobalt oxide [Bi$_{1.7}$Co$_{0.3}$Ca$_{2}$O$_{4}$]$^{RS}_{0.6}$CoO$_{2}$. A large negative magnetothermopower is found to scale with both magnetic field and temperature revealing a significant spin entropy contribution to thermoelectric properties giving rise to a constant S$_0\approx$ 60 $μ$V K$^{-1}$ equal to the high temperature asymptotic value of the spin 1/2 entropy. Low temperature specific heat measurements allow us to determine an enhanced electronic part with $γ\approx$ 50 mJ (mol K$^{2}$)$^{-1}$ attesting of strong correlations. Thereby, a critical comparison between [Bi$_{1.7}$Co$_{0.3}$Ca$_{2}$O$_{4}$]$^{RS}_{0.6}$CoO$_{2}$, other cobaltites as well as other materials reveals a universal behavior of the thermopower low temperature slope as a function of $γ$ testifying thus a purely electronic origin. This potentially generic scaling behavior suggests here that the high room temperature value of the thermopower in misfit cobalt oxides results from the addition of a spin entropy contribution to an enlarged electronic one.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2006

Dielectric catastrophe at the magnetic field induced insulator to metal transition in Pr1-xCaxMnO3 (x=0.30, 0.37) crystals

The dielectric permittivity and resistivity have been measured simultaneously as a function of magnetic field in Pr1-xCaxMnO3 crystals with different doping. A huge increase of dielectric permittivity was detected near percolation threshold. The dielectric and conductive properties are found to be mutually correlated throughout insulator to metal transition evidencing the dielectric catastrophe phenomenon. Data are analyzed in a framework of Maxwell-Garnett theory and the Mott-Hubbard theory attributed to the role of strong Coulomb interactions.

nlin.AO↗

arXiv2006

New Insight into the Fluctuations of the Moving Vortex Lattice: Non-Gaussian Noise and Levy Flights

We report measurements and analysis of the voltage noise due the to vortex motion, performed in superconducting Niobium micro-bridges. Noise in such small systems exhibits important changes from the behavior commonly reported in macroscopic samples. In the low biasing current regime, the voltage fluctuations are shown to deviate substantially from the Gaussian behavior which is systematically observed at higher currents in the so called flux-flow regime. The responsibility of the spatial inhomogeneities of the critical current in this deviation from Gaussian behavior is emphasized. We also report on the first investigation of the effect of an artificial pinning array on the voltage noise statistics. It is shown that the fluctuations can lose their stationarity, and exhibit a Levy flight-like behavior.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2006

Experimental study of the correlation length of critical-current fluctuations in the presence of surface disorder: Probing vortex long-range interactions

We report on critical currents and voltage noise measurements in Niobium strips in the superconducting state, in the presence of a bulk vortex lattice ($B < B_{C2}$) and in the surface superconducting state ($B_{c2}< B < B_{C3}$). For homogeneous surfaces, the correlation length of the current fluctuations can be associated with the electromagnetic skin depth of vortex superficial instabilities. The modification of the surface state by means of low energy irradiation induces a strong modification of the critical current and of the noise. The appearance of a corner frequency in the spectral domain can be linked with the low wave-vectors of the artificial corrugation. Since this latter occurs only for $B < B_{C2}$, we propose that the long-range interactions allow the correlation length to extend up to values imposed by the surface topography.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2005

Correlation between structure and properties in multiferroic La$_{0.7}$Ca$_{0.3}$MnO$_3$/BaTiO$_3$ superlattices

Superlattices composed of ferromagnetics, namely La$_{0.7}$Ca$_{0.3}$MnO$_3$ (LCMO), and ferroelectrics, namely, BaTiO$_3$(BTO) were grown on SrTiO$_3$ at 720$^o$C by pulsed laser deposition process. While the out-of-plane lattice parameters of the superlattices, as extracted from the X-ray diffraction studies, were found to be dependent on the BTO layer thickness, the in-plane lattice parameter is almost constant. The evolution of the strains, their nature, and their distribution in the samples, were examined by the conventional sin$^2ψ$ method. The effects of structural variation on the physical properties, as well as the possible role of the strain on inducing the multiferroism in the superlattices, have also been discussed.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2005

Unconventional Hall effect in oriented Ca$_3$Co$_4$O$_9$ thin films

Transport properties of the good thermoelectric misfit oxide Ca$_3$Co$_4$O$_9$ are examined. In-plane resistivity and Hall resistance measurements were made on epitaxial thin films which were grown on {\it c}-cut sapphire substrates using the pulsed laser deposition technique. Interpretation of the in-plane transport experiments relates the substrate-induced strain in the resulting film to single crystals under very high pressure ($\sim$ 5.5 GPa) consistent with a key role of strong electronic correlation. They are confirmed by the measured high temperature maxima in both resistivity and Hall resistance. While hole-like charge carriers are inferred from the Hall effect measurements over the whole investigated temperature range, the Hall resistance reveals a non monotonic behavior at low temperatures that could be interpreted with an anomalous contribution. The resulting unconventional temperature dependence of the Hall resistance seems thus to combine high temperature strongly correlated features above 340 K and anomalous Hall effect at low temperature, below 100 K.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2005

Magnetoelectric Coupling in epsilon-Fe2O3

Nanoparticles of the ferrimagnetic epsilon-Fe2O3 oxide have been synthesized by sol-gel method. Here, we report on the measurements of the dielectric permittivity as a function of temperature, frequency and magnetic field. It is found that, coinciding with the transition from collinear ferrimagnetic ordering to an incommensurate magnetic state occurring at about 100 K, there is an abrupt change (about 30 %) of permittivity suggesting the existence of a magnetoelectric coupling in this material. Indeed, magnetic field dependent measurements at 100 K have revealed an increase of the permittivity by about 0.3 % in 6 T. Prospective advantages of epsilon-Fe2O3 as multiferroic material are discussed.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗