The isotope effect and phase separation in (La0.5Pr0.5)0.7Ca0.3MnO3 films: Optical data

A new approach to the study of phase separation in lanthanum manganites is proposed based on the combined investigation of their optical and magnetooptical characteristics providing information about the conducting and ferromagnetic regions, respectively. Effects of the ¹⁸O isotope substitution for ¹⁶O in the epitaxial films of (La_0.5Pr_0.5)_0.7Ca_0.3MnO₃ (grown on SrTiO₃ or LaAlO₃ substrates) upon the IR absorption spectra and the equatorial Kerr effect measured in the 1.5–3.8 eV range were studied. A giant drop in the temperature of maximum resistance of the film grown on SrTiO₃ and disappearance of the metal-insulator transition in the film on LaAlO₃, observed upon the isotope exchange, are accompanied by a decrease in the contribution of free charge carriers to the absorption spectra, by the appearance of bands due to localized states, and by a decrease in magnitude of the equatorial Kerr effects. Measurements of the Kerr effect and the temperature variation of the optical transmission show evidence of the presence of ferromagnetic metal regions in the ¹⁸O-isotope-substituted (La_0.5Pr_0.5)_0.7Ca_0.3MnO₃/LaAlO₃ film at low temperatures, with a general semiconductor character of the resistivity behavior in the entire temperature range studied. Changes observed in the absorption spectra are explained based on a model of the pseudo-Jahn-Teller polar centers and phase separation. The optical and magnetooptical data show evidence of a percolation nature of the giant isotope effect in manganites.