Abstract
The ground-state properties of correlated electron systems can be extraordinarily sensitive to external stimuli, offering abundant platforms for functional materials. Using the multi-messenger combination of atomic force microscopy, cryogenic scanning near-field optical microscopy, magnetic force microscopy and ultrafast laser excitation, we demonstrate both ‘writing’ and ‘erasing’ of a metastable ferromagnetic metal phase in strained films of La2/3Ca1/3MnO3 (LCMO) with nanometre-resolved finesse. By tracking both optical conductivity and magnetism at the nanoscale, we reveal how strain-coupling underlies the dynamic growth, spontaneous nanotexture and first-order melting transition of this hidden photoinduced metal. Our first-principles calculations reveal that epitaxially engineered Jahn–Teller distortion can stabilize nearly degenerate antiferromagnetic insulator and ferromagnetic metal phases. We propose a Ginzburg–Landau description to rationalize the co-active interplay of strain, lattice distortions and magnetism nano-resolved here in strained LCMO, thus guiding future functional engineering of epitaxial oxides into the regime of phase-programmable materials.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 397-404 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | Nature Materials |
Volume | 19 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Apr 1 2020 |
Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2019, This is a U.S. government work and not under copyright protection in the U.S.; foreign copyright protection may apply.