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Atomic-scale images of charge ordering in a mixed-valence manganite

Nature volume 416, pages 518–521 (2002)Cite this article

Abstract

Transition-metal perovskite oxides exhibit a wide range of extraordinary but imperfectly understood phenomena. The best known examples are high-temperature superconductivity in copper oxides1, and colossal magnetoresistance in manganese oxides (‘manganites’)2,3. All of these materials undergo a range of order–disorder transitions associated with changes in charge, spin, orbital and lattice degrees of freedom. Measurements of such order are usually made by diffraction techniques, which detect the ionic cores and the spins of the conduction electrons. Unfortunately, because such techniques are only weakly sensitive to valence electrons and yield superpositions of signals from distinct submicrometre-scale phases, they cannot directly image phase coexistence and charge ordering, two key features of the manganites. Here we present scanning tunnelling microscope measurements of the manganite Bi1-xCaxMnO3. We show that charge ordering and phase separation can be resolved in real space with atomic-scale resolution. By taking together images and current–voltage spectroscopy data we find that charge order correlates with both structural order and the local conductive state (either metallic or insulating). These experiments provide an atomic-scale basis for descriptions4 of manganites as mixtures of electronically and structurally distinct phases.

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Figure 1: STM mapping of the paramagnetic phase of Bi0.24Ca0.76MnO3 at 299 K.
Figure 2: Topographic and spectroscopic atomic-scale signatures of phase separation into metallic and insulating regions in the paramagnetic phase of Bi0.24Ca0.76MnO3 at 299 K.
Figure 3: Atomic-scale STM mapping of the charge-ordered phase of Bi0.24Ca0.76MnO3 at 146 K.
Figure 4: Identical lattice periods and electronic structures of the insulating √2a0×√2a0 regions observed in the paramagnetic room-temperature phase (left) and the charge-ordered low-temperature phase (right).

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Acknowledgements

We thank N. Wingreen and J. Chadi for comments on the manuscript, and D. Khomskii, A. Millis, C. de Morais Smith and A. Yazdani for discussions. B.G.K. and S.W.C. were supported by the National Science Foundation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. NEC Research Institute, 4 Independence Way, Princeton, 08540, New Jersey, USA

    Ch. Renner, G. Aeppli & Yeong-Ah Soh

  2. Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rutgers University, Piscataway, 08854, New Jersey, USA

    B.-G. Kim & S.-W. Cheong

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  1. Ch. Renner
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Correspondence to Ch. Renner.

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Renner, C., Aeppli, G., Kim, BG. et al. Atomic-scale images of charge ordering in a mixed-valence manganite. Nature 416, 518–521 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/416518a

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