Anisotropy-induced crossover from Drude conductivity to charge-density-wave excitations in a stripe-type charge-ordered manganite

Abstract

The half-doped Pr0.5Sr0.5MnO3 (PSMO) manganite represents a unique stripe type of charge orbital order that induces transport and magnetic anisotropy. Low-energy charge dynamics in PSMO (110) epitaxial film were investigated along and across two dissimilar in-plane orthogonal axes, [1-10] and [001], by recording the complex refractive index in the energy range of 1-7 meV. We report a novel observation of a gradual crossover from Drude-like metallic conductivity to charge-density-wave (CDW)-like collective excitations as the polarized terahertz excitation field is swept across the orthogonal in-plane axes. This is a rare manifestation of a CDW mode in a highly conducting stripe-type charge-ordered (CO) system, which is fundamentally different from the CDW modes of checkerboard CO. Interestingly, the contrasting charge dynamics along orthogonal in-plane axes form an intrinsic electronic switch, apparently a consequence of the unique CO of PSMO. © 2013 American Physical Society.