Orbital polarons in the metal-insulator transition of manganites

Citation
R. Kilian et G. Khaliullin, Orbital polarons in the metal-insulator transition of manganites, PHYS REV B, 60(19), 1999, pp. 13458-13469
Citations number
29
Categorie Soggetti
Apllied Physucs/Condensed Matter/Materiales Science
Journal title
PHYSICAL REVIEW B-CONDENSED MATTER
ISSN journal
01631829 → ACNP
Volume
60
Issue
19
Year of publication
1999
Pages
13458 - 13469
Database
ISI
SICI code
0163-1829(19991115)60:19<13458:OPITMT>2.0.ZU;2-5
Abstract
The metal-insulator transition in manganites is strongly influenced by the concentration of holes present in the system. Based upon an orbitally degen erate Mott-Hubbard model, we analyze two possible localization scenarios to account for this doping dependence: First, we rule out that the transition is initiated by a disorder-order crossover in the orbital sector, showing that its effect on charge itineracy is only small. Second, we introduce the idea of orbital polarons originating from a strong polarization of orbital s in the vicinity of holes. Considering this direct coupling between charge and orbital degrees of freedom in addition to lattice effects we are able to explain well the phase diagram of manganites for low and intermediate ho le concentrations. [S0163-1829(99)12543-8].