Possible link of a structurally driven spin flip transition and the insulator-metal transition in the perovskite La$_{1-x}$Ba$_{x}$CoO$_{3}$

Abstract

The complex nature of the magnetic ground state in La$_{1-x}$A$_{x}$CoO$_{3}$ (A = Ca, Sr, Ba) has been investigated via neutron scattering. It was previously observed that ferromagnetic (FM) as well as antiferromagnetic (AFM) correlations can coexist prior to the insulator-metal transition (IMT). We focused on a unique region in the Ba phase diagram, from x = 0.17 - 0.22, in which a commensurate AFM phase appears first with a propagation vector, k = (0, -0.5, 0.5), and the Co moment in the (001)$_{R}$ plane of the rhombohedral lattice. With increasing x, the AFM component weakens while an FM order appears with the FM Co moment directed along the (001)$_{R}$ (=(111)$_{C}$) axis. By x = 0.22, a spin flip to new FM component appears as the crystal fully transforms to an orthorhombic (Pnma) structure, with the Co moments pointing along a new direction, (001)$_{O}$ (=(110)$_{C}$). It is the emergence of the magnetic Pnma phase that leads to IMT.