h-ErMnO3 absorbance, reflectivity and, emissivity in the THz to mid-infrared from 2 K to 1700 K: carrier screening, Fr\"ohlich resonance, small polarons, and bipolarons

TL;DR

This study investigates the temperature-dependent THz to mid-infrared optical properties of h-ErMnO3, revealing complex phonon-magnetic interactions, carrier screening effects, and phase transitions involving polarons and bipolarons from 2 K to 1700 K.

Contribution

It provides detailed insights into the vibrational, magnetic, and electronic responses of h-ErMnO3 across a wide temperature range, highlighting the role of polarons, bipolarons, and phase transitions.

Findings

Carrier screening blurs vibrational bands at high temperatures.

Evidence of Fr"ohlich resonance linked to Coulomb interactions.

Insulator-metal transition occurs around 1600 K.

Abstract

We report the temperature dependent THz to mid-infrared response of hexagonal-ErMnO3 using absorption, reflectivity, and emissivity techniques from 2 K to 1700 K. At low temperatures, lowest frequency vibrational modes coexist with paramagnon excitations associated with well-defined crystal field Rare Earth pure magnetic replicas in an intriguing phonon-magnetic convergence. Increasing the temperature, a number of vibrational bands close to the space group predicted undergo profile broadening and softening. In particular, a distinctive set of bands in the 288-329 cm-1 (300 K) range has a component whose profile is carrier screened becoming nearly fully blurred in the intermediate phase between ~830 K and ~1500 K. Below TC ~830 K this asymmetric band further splits as spin phonon interaction and the tripling of the unit cell takes place revealing a delicate balance of long- and short-range interactions. Ambient Raman scattering brings up evidence of a Fr\"ohlich resonance due to Coulomb interactions between carriers and the macroscopic field of the longitudinal optical phonon mode. We found it is dynamically correlated to the hexagonal c-axis negative thermal expansion. Mid-infrared (MIR) optical conductivity show that also plays a role in small polarons and mediates in high temperature bipolarones.At higher temperatures a low frequency Drude contribution is triggered by electron hopping signaling an insulator-metal phase transition at ~1600 K while the MIR response suggests coexistence between single small polarons and bipolarons. We draw a parallel with improper ferroelectrics sustaining a lattice incommensurate intermediate phase and unit cell tripling. We argue that in the h-RMnO3 (R=Rare Earth, Y) family of compounds the intermediate phase be considered incommensurate with onset at TINC ~1500 K and ferroelectric lock-in at TC ~830 K delimiting this regime in h-ErMnO3.