Abstract
By combining the results of magnetization, resistivity, and neutron powder-diffraction data for stoichiometric we have constructed a phase diagram that describes the magnetic, transport, and structural properties and the relationships among them as a function of composition and temperature (10–340 K). We show that, with increasing Sr content, the Curie temperature increases linearly, while the temperature of an orbital ordering transition to a state with a large coherent Jahn-Teller (JT) distortion decreases. These two phase-transition lines cross at and When the transition to the ferromagnetic state occurs in a phase that has a large coherent JT distortion a strong magnetolattice coupling is observed; the coherent JT distortion is dramatically reduced and the incoherent distortion is enhanced in the ferromagnetic phase. For where the coherent JT distortion is small above Curie temperature, magnetolattice coupling reduces the incoherent distortion at and strongly suppresses the transition to a phase with a large coherent JT distortion. These observations are consistent with a competition between ferromagnetism and JT distortion that is mediated by a colossal spin-charge-lattice coupling. A metallic state occurs below the Curie temperature when both coherent and incoherent JT distortions are suppressed.
- Received 10 March 1999
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.60.7006
©1999 American Physical Society