Quantitative determination of bond order and lattice distortions in nickel oxide heterostructures by resonant x-ray scattering

Bibliographic Details
Title: Quantitative determination of bond order and lattice distortions in nickel oxide heterostructures by resonant x-ray scattering
Authors: Lu, Y., Frano, A., Bluschke, M., Hepting, M., Macke, S., Strempfer, J., Wochner, P., Cristiani, G., Logvenov, G., Habermeier, H. -U., Haverkort, M. W., Keimer, B., Benckiser, E.
Source: Phys. Rev. B 93, 165121 (2016)
Publication Year: 2016
Collection: Condensed Matter
Subject Terms: Condensed Matter - Strongly Correlated Electrons
More Details: We present a combined study of Ni $K$-edge resonant x-ray scattering and density functional calculations to probe and distinguish electronically driven ordering and lattice distortions in nickelate heterostructures. We demonstrate that due to the low crystal symmetry, contributions from structural distortions can contribute significantly to the energy-dependent Bragg peak intensities of a bond-ordered NdNiO$_3$ reference film. For a LaNiO$_3$-LaAlO$_3$ superlattice that exhibits magnetic order, we establish a rigorous upper bound on the bond-order parameter. We thus conclusively confirm predictions of a dominant spin density wave order parameter in metallic nickelates with a quasi-two-dimensional electronic structure.
Document Type: Working Paper
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.93.165121
Access URL: http://arxiv.org/abs/1604.07317
Accession Number: edsarx.1604.07317
Database: arXiv
More Details
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevB.93.165121