Visualization of Site- and Bond-Centered Charge Order in a Half-Doped Manganite

ORAL

Abstract

Charge order instabilities, the ordering of electrons and spins into periodic structures, occur in many classes of correlated quantum matter. Within a superlattice, charge-ordered states may have distinct electronic patterns and symmetries, however, distinguishing between them is challenging. In half-doped manganites, for instance, both site-centered (stripe) and bond-centered (bi-stripe) orders have been proposed. Using cryogenic scanning transmission electron microscopy, we map the charge-ordered structure in a Nd1/2Sr1/2MnO3 thin film by measuring picoscale periodic lattice distortions. We find two distinct ground states coexisting over tens of nanometers. The first is consistent with site-centered order. The second represents bi-stripes which remarkably are not purely bond-centered. The bi-stripes are intermediate between bond- and site-centered order and break inversion symmetry.



*This work was supported by AFOSR (FA 9550-16-1-0305) and the NSF (NSF-MRI-1429155, DMR-1719875)

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Presenters

  • Ismail El Baggari

    • Cornell University
    • Physics, Cornell University

Authors

  • Ismail El Baggari

    • Cornell University
    • Physics, Cornell University

  • David J. Baek

    • Electrical and Computer Engineering, Cornell University

  • Michael J. Zachman

    • Applied and Engineering Physics, Cornell University

  • Di Lu

    • Stanford University
    • Physics, Stanford University

  • Yasuyuki Hikita

    • Applied Physics, Stanford University
    • SLAC National Accelerator Lab.

  • Elizabeth Nowadnick

    • Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, Merced
    • Materials Science and Engineering, University of California Merced
    • University of California, Merced
    • Material Science and Engineering, University of California, Merced

  • Harold Hwang

    • Institute for Materials and Energy Sciences, Stanford University
    • Stanford University
    • Department of Applied Physics, Stanford University
    • Applied Physics, Stanford University
    • SIMES, SLAC
    • Stanford Institute for Materials and Energy Sciences, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA
    • SLAC National Accelerator Lab.
    • Physics, Stanford University
    • Stanford Institute for Materials and Energy Sciences, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

  • lena Kourkoutis

    • Cornell University
    • Applied and Engineering Physics, Cornell University