Structural changes induced by electric currents in a single crystal of Pr2CuO4

Susmita Roy, Feng Ye, Zachary Morgan, Kabir Mathur, Anish Parulekar, Syed I.A. Jalali, Yu Zhang, Gang Cao, Nobu Hisa Kaneko, Martin Greven, Rishi Raj, Dmitry Reznik

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2 Scopus citations

Abstract

We demonstrate an approach to the structural and electronic property modification of perovskites, focusing on Pr2CuO4, an undoped parent compound of a class of electron-doped copper-oxide superconductors. Currents were passed parallel or perpendicular to the copper oxygen layers with the voltage ramped up until a rapid drop in the resistivity was achieved, a process referred to as "flash."The current was then further increased tenfold in current-control mode. This state was quenched by immersion into liquid nitrogen. Flash can drive many compounds into different atomic structures with new properties, whereas the quench freezes them into a long-lived state. Single-crystal neutron diffraction of as-grown and modified Pr2CuO4 revealed a 10×10 superlattice due to oxygen-vacancy order. The diffraction peak intensities of the superlattice of the modified sample were significantly enhanced relative to the pristine sample. Raman-active phonons in the modified sample were considerably sharper. Measurements of electrical resistivity, magnetization, and two-magnon Raman scattering indicate that the modification affected only the Pr-O layers, but not the Cu-O planes. These results point to enhanced oxygen-vacancy order in the modified samples well beyond what can be achieved without passing electrical current. Our work opens a new avenue toward electric field/quench control of structure and properties of layered perovskite oxides.

Original languageEnglish
Article number083803
JournalPhysical Review Materials
Volume7
Issue number8
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 2023

Funding

S.R. and D.R., who performed Raman scattering, bulk measurements, and flash experiments, were supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Office of Science, under Contract No. DE-SC0006939. The work at the University of Minnesota was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy through the University of Minnesota Center for Quantum Materials, under Grant No. DE-SC0016371. The work of S.I.J. and R.R. who performed and designed flash experiments and helped with interpretation of the data were supported by the Office of Naval Research under Grant No. N00014-18-1-2270. We thank Dr. Antti Makinen for taking an interest in this project. A portion of this research used resources at the Spallation Neutron Source, a DOE Office of Science User Facility operated by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

FundersFunder number
University of Minnesota Center for Quantum MaterialsDE-SC0016371
Office of Naval ResearchN00014-18-1-2270
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of ScienceDE-SC0006939
Basic Energy Sciences

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