Dynamically Preferred State with Strong Electronic Fluctuations from Electrochemical Synthesis of Sodium Manganate

Published

February 2, 2022

Author(s)

Xi Chen, Yichao Wang, Yiping Wang, Rebecca Dally, Kamila Wiaderek, Tianyu Qiao, Jue Liu, Enyuan Hu, Kenneth Burch, Jeffrey W. Lynn, Xin Li

Abstract

Electrochemical (de-)intercalation is a delicate method to precisely control the alkaline ion composition in alkaline transition metal oxides. Due to the interactions among alkaline ions, and with metal oxide layers, alkaline and transition metal charge ordering patterns can spontaneously form at special fractional alkaline compositions. Here we show that this elegant electrochemical process can create dynamically stable structures in an anharmonic energy landscape that conventional syntheses and computations can rarely visit. Specifically, electrochemically prepared Na_1/2MnO₂ ordering exhibits abnormal structure distortions, charge ordering and dynamical activities. The static and dynamic structure details not only manifest emergent underlying interactions, but also can create and magnify novel quantum effects. We show that magnetic fluctuations and lattice dynamics are strongly coupled through directional charge fluxes in an unusually wide temperature range in Na_1/2MnO₂, which distinguishes it from all other Na_xMnO₂ at higher or lower Na compositions. The results emphasize the unique opportunity of using electrochemical processes to design and create novel quantum states with strongly coupled and mutually enhanced charge-lattice-magnetic fluctuations through dynamic flux functionals.

Citation

Matter

Volume

5

Issue

2

Pub Type

Journals

Citation

Chen, X. , Wang, Y. , Wang, Y. , Dally, R. , Wiaderek, K. , Qiao, T. , Liu, J. , Hu, E. , Burch, K. , Lynn, J. and Li, X. (2022), Dynamically Preferred State with Strong Electronic Fluctuations from Electrochemical Synthesis of Sodium Manganate, Matter (Accessed October 8, 2025)