Structure of nanoscale polaron correlations in La1.2Sr1.8Mn2O7

A system of strongly interacting electron-lattice polarons can exhibit charge and orbital order at sufficiently high polaron concentrations. In this study, the structure of short-range polaron correlations in the layered colossal magnetoresistive perovskite manganite La1.2Sr1.8Mn2O7 has been determined by a cystallographic analysis of broad satellite maxima observed in diffuse x-ray and neutron-scattering data, The resulting q approximate to (0.3,0, +/-1) modulation is a longitudinal octahedral-stretch mode, consistent with incommensurate Jahn-Teller-coupled charge-density-wave fluctuations, that implies an unusual orbital-stripe pattern parallel to the (100) directions.