title: Quantum Percolation and Magnetic Nanodroplet States in Electronically Phase-Separated Manganite Nanowires.
abstract: One-dimensional (1D) confinement has been revealed to effectively tune the properties of materials in homogeneous states. The 1D physics can be further enriched by electronic inhomogeneity, which unfortunately remains largely unknown. Here we demonstrate the ultrahigh sensitivity to magnetic fluctuations and the tunability of phase stability in the electronic transport properties of self-assembled electronically phase-separated manganite nanowires with extreme aspect ratio. The onset of magnetic nanodroplet state, a precursor to the ferromagnetic metallic state, is unambiguously revealed, which is attributed to the small lateral size of the nanowires that is comparable to the droplet size. Moreover, the quasi-1D anisotropy stabilizes thin insulating domains to form intrinsic tunneling junctions in the low temperature range, which is robust even under magnetic field up to 14 T and thus essentially modifies the classic 1D percolation picture to stabilize a novel quantum percolation state. A new phase diagram is therefore established for the manganite system under quasi-1D confinement for the first time. Our findings offer new insight into understanding and manipulating the colorful properties of the electronically phase-separated systems via dimensionality engineering.
authors.affiliation: Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale (HFNL), CAS Key Laboratory of Strongly Coupled Quantum Matter Physics, and Department of Physics, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei 230026, China.|International Center for Quantum Design of Functional Materials, HFNL, and Synergetic Innovation Center of Quantum Information and Quantum Physics, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei 230026, China.
authors.forename: Kaixuan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale (HFNL), CAS Key Laboratory of Strongly Coupled Quantum Matter Physics, and Department of Physics, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei 230026, China.|International Center for Quantum Design of Functional Materials, HFNL, and Synergetic Innovation Center of Quantum Information and Quantum Physics, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei 230026, China.
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale (HFNL), CAS Key Laboratory of Strongly Coupled Quantum Matter Physics, and Department of Physics, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei 230026, China.|International Center for Quantum Design of Functional Materials, HFNL, and Synergetic Innovation Center of Quantum Information and Quantum Physics, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei 230026, China.
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale (HFNL), CAS Key Laboratory of Strongly Coupled Quantum Matter Physics, and Department of Physics, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei 230026, China.|International Center for Quantum Design of Functional Materials, HFNL, and Synergetic Innovation Center of Quantum Information and Quantum Physics, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei 230026, China.
authors.forename: Qiyuan
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale (HFNL), CAS Key Laboratory of Strongly Coupled Quantum Matter Physics, and Department of Physics, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei 230026, China.|International Center for Quantum Design of Functional Materials, HFNL, and Synergetic Innovation Center of Quantum Information and Quantum Physics, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei 230026, China.
authors.forename: Nan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale (HFNL), CAS Key Laboratory of Strongly Coupled Quantum Matter Physics, and Department of Physics, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei 230026, China.|International Center for Quantum Design of Functional Materials, HFNL, and Synergetic Innovation Center of Quantum Information and Quantum Physics, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei 230026, China.
authors.forename: Long
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale (HFNL), CAS Key Laboratory of Strongly Coupled Quantum Matter Physics, and Department of Physics, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei 230026, China.|International Center for Quantum Design of Functional Materials, HFNL, and Synergetic Innovation Center of Quantum Information and Quantum Physics, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei 230026, China.
authors.forename: Xiaodong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.affiliation: Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale (HFNL), CAS Key Laboratory of Strongly Coupled Quantum Matter Physics, and Department of Physics, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei 230026, China.|High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Hefei 230031, China.
authors.forename: Yubin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.affiliation: Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale (HFNL), CAS Key Laboratory of Strongly Coupled Quantum Matter Physics, and Department of Physics, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei 230026, China.|High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Hefei 230031, China.|Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructure, Nanjing University , Nanjing 210093, China.
authors.forename: Qingyou
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: International Center for Quantum Design of Functional Materials, HFNL, and Synergetic Innovation Center of Quantum Information and Quantum Physics, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei 230026, China.
authors.forename: Zhenyu
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-5844-3558
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale (HFNL), CAS Key Laboratory of Strongly Coupled Quantum Matter Physics, and Department of Physics, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei 230026, China.|International Center for Quantum Design of Functional Materials, HFNL, and Synergetic Innovation Center of Quantum Information and Quantum Physics, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei 230026, China.
authors.forename: Changgan
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-8630-845X
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zeng
keywords: Electronic phase separation; magnetic nanodroplets; manganite nanowire; quantum percolation; tunneling