Evidence of anisotropic magnetic polarons in La0.94Sr0.66MnO3 by neutron scattering and comparison with Ca-doped manganites

Elastic and inelastic neutron-scattering experiments have been performed in a La0.94Sr0.06MnO3 untwinned crystal, which exhibits an antiferromagnetic canted magnetic structure with ferromagnetic layers. The elastic small q scattering exhibits a modulation with an anisotropic q dependence. It can be pictured by ferromagnetic inhomogeneities or large magnetic polarons with a platelike shape, the largest size (approximate to 17 Angstrom) and largest interpolaron distance (approximate to 38 Angstrom) being within the ferromagnetic layers. Comparison with observations performed on Ca-doped samples, which show the growth of the magnetic polarons with doping, suggests that this growth is faster for the Sr than for the Ca substitution. Below the gap of the spin-wave branch typical of the antiferromagnetic layered magnetic structure, an additional spin-wave branch reveals a ferromagnetic and isotropic coupling, already found in Ca-doped samples. Its q-dependent intensity, very anisotropic, closely reflects the ferromagnetic correlations found for the static clusters. All these results agree with a two-phase electronic segregation occurring on a very small scale, although some characteristics of a canted state are also observed suggesting a weakly inhomogeneous state.