Orbital correlations in the pseudocubic O and rhombohedral R phases of LaMnO3

The local and intermediate structure of stoichiometric LaMnO3 has been studied in the pseudocubic and rhombohedral phases at high temperatures (300-1150 K). Neutron powder diffraction data were collected and a combined Rietveld and high real space resolution atomic pair distribution function analysis was carried out. The nature of the Jahn-Teller (JT) transition around 750 K is confirmed to be orbital order to disorder. In the high-temperature orthorhombic (O) and rhombohedral (R) phases, the MnO6 octahedra are still fully distorted locally. More importantly, the intermediate structure suggests the presence of local ordered clusters of diameter approximately 16 A ( approximately 4 MnO6 octahedra) implying strong nearest-neighbor JT antiferrodistortive coupling. These clusters persist well above the JT transition temperature even into the high-temperature R phase.