Near-Field Evidence for Ferromagnetic "Nanoneedles" in Nd1/2Sr1/2MnO3
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- 作者：Paul W. Kolb ; Danilo B. Romero ; H. Dennis Drew ; Andrei B. Sushkov ; Satish B. Ogale ; Yutaka Moritomo
- 刊名：Nano Letters
- 出版年：2007
- 出版时间：June 2007
- 年：2007
- 卷：7
- 期：6
- 页码：1449 - 1453
- 全文大小：871K
- 年卷期：v.7,no.6(June 2007)
- ISSN：1530-6992
文摘
We report on the near-field optical microscopic (NSOM) imaging of single-crystal NdB>1/2Sr1/2MnO3 near the first-order phase transition from theCE-type charge-ordered insulator (COI) to the ferromagnetic metal (FMM) at 165 K. Using polarized light, the measurements are sensitive totwin domains through optical anisotropy and to hysteretic inhomogeneous strain associated with the phase transition. Optical evidence forstrain relaxation and multiphase coexistence is observed through the transition from 150 to 165 K. The multiphase coexistence is seen as theformation of FMM "nanoneedles" with widths less than 100 nm and lengths of at least several micrometers at temperatures well below TC. Thework demonstrates polarized NSOM as a technique for the study of first-order solid-state phase transformations on the nanometer spatialscale.