Features of the intermediate state appearing between the C- and A-type orbital-ordered states in the highly-correlated electronic system Sr_1-xNd_xMnO₃

The presence of the C- and A-type orbital-ordered states has been reported in the highly-correlated electronic system Sr1-xNdxMnO3 (SNMO). The interesting feature of the oxide system is that an increase in the Nd content leads to the (C-type → A-type) state change across a temperature-independent morphotropic phase boundary (MPB). Although structural fluctuations can be expected near the MPB, the detailed features of the state change have not been understood sufficiently. Thus, the crystallographic features of the state change in SNMO with 0.35 ≤ x ≤ 0.49 have been investigated mainly at 300 K, by x-ray powder diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. It was found that the C-type orbital-ordered state with the tetragonal-I4/mcm symmetry and the disordered orthorhombic-Imma state were present for 0.35 ≤ x ≤ 0.43 and for 0.45 ≤ x ≤ 0.49 at 300 K, respectively. The notable feature of the state change is that disordered regions with the cubic-Pm m symmetry were also found locally for x = 0.43, in addition to the C-type state. Because the rotational-displacement pattern for oxygen octahedra involved in the disordered-Imma state is the same as that in the A-type state, furthermore, the former disordered state may be regarded as a precursor state to the A-type orbital ordering.