Borderline magnetism in Sr_4Ru_3O_(10): Impact of La and Ca doping on itinerant ferromagnetism and metamagnetism

摘要

An investigation of La and Ca doped Sr_4Ru_3O_(10), featuring a coexistence of interlayer ferromagnetism and intralayer metamagnetism, is presented. La doping readily changes magnetism between ferromagnetism and metamagnetism by tuning the density of states. It also results in different Curie temperatures for the c-axis and the basal plane, highlighting a rare spin-orbit coupling with the crystal field states. In contrast, Ca doping enhances the c-axis ferromagnetism and the magnetic anisotropy. La doping also induces a dimensional crossover in the interlayer transport whereas Ca doping exhibits a tunneling magnetoresistance and an extraordinary T~(3/2) dependence of the resistivity. The drastic changes caused by the doping demonstrate a rare borderline magnetism that is delicately linked to the interplay of the density of states and spin-orbit coupling.