Ferroelectric order versus metallicity in Sr${}_{1-x}$Ca${}_x$TiO${}_{3-\hat{I}´}$ ($x=0.009$)

Abstract

We report on a thermal-expansion study of the ferroelectric phase transition in insulating Sr${}_{1-x}$Ca${}_x$TiO${}_3$ ($x=0.009$) and its evolution upon increasing charge-carrier concentration up to $n\simeq 60\times 10^{19}$cm${}^{-3}$. Although electric polarization is screened by mobile charge carriers, we find clear signatures of the ferroelectric phase transition in the thermal-expansion coefficient $\hat{I}\pm$ of the weakly doped metallic samples. Upon increasing $n$, the transition temperature $T_{\mathrm{C}}(n)$ and the magnitude of the anomalies in $\hat{I}\pm$ rapidly decrease up to a threshold carrier density $n^{\star }$ above which broadened anomalies remain present. There is no indication for a sign change of $\hat{I}\pm$ as is expected for a pressure-dependent quantum phase transition with $n$ as the control parameter. Thus, the ferroelectriclike transition is either continuously fading away or it transforms to another low-temperature phase above $n^{\star }$, but this change hardly affects the temperature-dependent $\hat{I}\pm (T)$ data.

6 pages, 3 figures