Order and dynamics of intrinsic nanoscale inhomogeneities in manganites

Neutron elastic, inelastic, and high-energy x-ray scattering techniques are used to explore the nature of the polaron order and dynamics in the colossal magnetoresistive (CMR) system La0.7Ca0.3MnO₃. Polaron correlations are known to develop within a narrow temperature regime as the Curie temperature is approached from low temperatures, with a nanoscale correlation length that is only weakly temperature dependent. The static nature of these short-range polaron correlations indicates the presence of a glasslike state, very similar to the observations for the bilayer manganite in the metallic-ferromagnetic doping region. In addition to this elastic component, inelastic scattering measurements reveal dynamic correlations with a comparable correlation length and with an energy distribution that is quasielastic. The elastic component disappears at a higher temperature T*, above which the correlations are purely dynamic. These observations are identical to the polaron dynamics found in the bilayer manganite system in the CMR regime, demonstrating that they are a general phenomenon in the manganites.