Hall effect in a GdBa2Cu3O7−δ/La0.75Sr0.25MnO3 perovskite bilayer

We present results on the Hall coefficient R_H in the normal state for a GdBa₂Cu₃O_7−δ/La_0.75Sr_0.25MnO₃ bilayer and a La_0.75Sr_0.25MnO₃ film grown by dc magnetron sputtering on (1 0 0) SrTiO₃. We find that the electric transport on the bilayer can be qualitatively described using a simple parallel layers model. The GdBa₂Cu₃O_7−δ layer presents a carrier density approximately equal to that reported for 7 − δ = 6.85 oxygen doping. Also we observe an unexpected presence of two Hall resistivity regimes, effects that may be associated with the internal magnetic field induced on the superconducting layer by the ferromagnetic layer.     

Enhanced magnetoresistance in La0.82Sr0.18MnO3-π-conjugated semiconducting polymer heterostructure

We report a large enhancement (∼90%) in magnetoresistance in La_0.82Sr_0.18MnO₃ (LSMO) layers by incorporating a π-conjugated semiconducting polymer layer in between them. The epitaxial LSMO layers were deposited by DC magnetron sputtering on SrTiO₃ single crystal substrates and have FM transition temperature (T_C)∼310 K. A semiconducting polymer poly(3-octylthiophene) (P3OT) layer was deposited over the epitaxial LSMO layer by solution dip coating technique and with subsequent deposition of another epitaxial LSMO layer, forming a LSMO-P3OT-LSMO heterostructure. The effect of P3OT incorporation on magnetotransport properties of this heterostructure has been examined in the temperature range 77-350 K. Large MR enhancement observed near room temperature in the FM regime is explained in terms of efficient magnetic field dependent carrier injection at LSMO/P3OT interface.     

Magnetic properties and charge ordering in Pr0.75Na0.25MnO3 manganite

The structural and magnetic properties of Pr_0.75Na_0.25MnO₃ have been investigated experimentally. At room temperature, the compound shows paramagnetic characteristic. Along with decreasing temperature, a peak appears in the magnetization versus temperature curve around 220 K. To clarify whether this peak is associated with the ordering arrangement of Mn³⁺ and Mn⁴⁺ ions, electron diffraction experiments were carried out below and above 220 K respectively. Only basic Brag diffraction spots can be observed at high temperatures, however, superlattice diffraction appears below 220 K. This provides direct evidence for the existence of charge ordering in Pr_0.75Na_0.25MnO₃. We find the Mn³⁺ and Mn⁴⁺ cations form zigzag chains in a-c plane by analyzing the diffraction patterns. Combining with the magnetization measurements and the results of electron spin resonance, we confirm the antiferromagnetic phase and ferromagnetic component coexist in Pr_0.75Na_0.25MnO₃ below 120 K.     

Magnetic properties of the charge ordered Nd0.75Na0.25MnO3

Nd_0.75Na_0.25MnO₃ polycrystalline ceramic is prepared via sol-gel process and its magnetic properties and electron spin resonance (ESR) spectra have been investigated experimentally. As the compound is cooled from room temperature, a charge-ordered state first develops below 170 K. A high magnetic field melts the charge ordered state and stabilizes a ferromagnetic (FM) state below 170 K. A field induced transition, analogous to a spin flip transition, is observed between 40 and 170 K. The critical temperature for spin flip increases with increasing temperature. Below 130 K, the compound tends to be intrinsically inhomogeneous, i.e. FM clusters and paramagnetic domains coexist in this system at least, which is confirmed by ESR measurements. When the external magnetic field is zero, long range FM interaction is not developed in this system; however, a tendency of re-entrant FM transition is observed in this compound.     

La0.7Ce0.3MnO3 epitaxial films fabricated by a pulsed laser deposition method

La_0.7Ce_0.3MnO₃ epitaxial films were successfully fabricated via a pulsed laser deposition method by controlling the experimental conditions. A series of experiments with varying the oxygen pressure and the substrate temperature demonstrated that the use of appropriate conditions is crucial for fabricating the epitaxial thin films. The existence of such suitable conditions was thermodynamically interpreted in terms of the stability of Mn²⁺ ion. Both XRD and EPMA measurements indicated that La_0.7Ce_0.3MnO₃ thin films fabricated herein form single phases, although it was difficult to present the direct experimental evidence to prove that Ce ion can really exist within the perovskite structure. The resultant films with oxygen annealing showed a metal-insulator transition and ferromagnetic property with Curie temperature of 275 K.     

Anisotropic and large low-field magnetic entropy change in a La4/3Sr5/3Mn2O7 single crystal

We have studied the magnetocaloric effect (MCE) in a bilayered La_4/3Sr_5/3Mn₂O₇ single crystal with applied field along both ab-plane and c-direction. Due to the quasi-two-dimensional structure, the crystal exhibits a strong anisotropy in the MCE. The difference of magnetic entropy change between two crystallographic directions depends on external magnetic fields and has a maximum of 2 J/kg K. A large low-field magnetic entropy change, reaching 3.2 J/kg K for a magnetic field change of 15 kOe, is observed when the applied field is along ab-plane. This large low-field magnetic entropy change is attributed to the rapid change of magnetization in response to external magnetic fields in the easy magnetizing plane.     

Electronic transport and magnetoresistance of a heterojunction composed of La0.7Ce0.3MnO3 and 1 wt% Nb-doped SrTiO3

We experimentally studied the transport properties and magnetoresistance behavior of a La_0.7Ce_0.3MnO₃/SrTiO₃ (doped by 1 wt% Nb) junction. Based on the analyses of the current-voltage relations and the depletion width, we conclude that the dominant transport mechanism of the junction is tunneling. The magnetoresistance of the junction is negative throughout the whole bias voltage range (from −1 V to 0.4 V) and the whole temperature range (below 300 K). It is believed that the magnetic field depresses the junction resistance by reducing the depletion width of the junction.     

Chemical pressure effect on the magnetic order of the La1.4Sr1.6Mn2O7 bilayered manganite

In this paper we have studied, by means of high-resolution neutron powder diffraction, the structural and magnetic feature of pure La_1.4Sr_1.6Mn₂O₇ and Sr-doped (25%) La_1.4Sr_1.6Mn₂O₇.Our data reveal the stabilization of the A-type AFM long-range order for the La_1.4Sr_1.6Mn₂O₇ bilayered manganites induced by the partial replacement of the Sr with the smaller Ca, keeping constant the hole doping. This can be in turn due to the change in the orbital character of the e_g electrons as a function of Ca-doping.     

Growth of single-phase c-axis aligned La1.2Ca1.8Mn2O7 films on SrTiO3 (001)

We report the growth of single phase, c-axis aligned thin films of La_1.2Ca_1.8Mn₂O₇ on SrTiO₃ (001) substrates using a controlled pulsed laser deposition method. In this method, constraint of epitaxy is utilized to stabilize the Ruddlesdon-Popper (RP) phase of La_1.2Ca_1.8Mn₂O₇. Oxygen ambient pressure and the rate of deposition play a very important role in influencing the epitaxial growth as well as maintaining phase purity of the material. The oxygen pressure inside the deposition chamber was very precisely controlled and varied during the layer-by-layer growth of the film. Films, prepared by our method, show excellent electrical and magnetic characteristics with a sharp metal-insulator transition at T_M-I=90 K, closely followed by a magnetic transition at T_C=91 K.     

Synthesis of magnetoresistive La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 nanoparticles by an improved chemical coprecipitation method

La_0.7Sr_0.3MnO₃ nanoparticles were prepared by a simple chemical coprecipitation route. Structural, magnetoresistance (MR), and magnetic properties were investigated. Rietveld refinement of X-ray powder diffraction result shows that the sample is single-phase with the space group of R3¯C. The result of field-emission scanning electronic microscopy shows that most of the grain sizes are distributed from 50 to 200 nm. The composition determined by energy-dispersive spectroscopy is the stoichiometry of La_0.7Sr_0.3MnO₃. The ferromagnetic to paramagnetic transition is sharp with Curie temperature T_C=367 K, which further confirms that the sample is single-phase. The steep change in MR at low fields is attributed to the alignment of the magnetization, while the high-field MR is due to the grain boundary effect.     

The effect of transition element doping on the electronic and magnetic properties of La1.4Sr1.6Mn2O7

The effect of transition element (TE=Cr, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn) doping on the electronic transport and magnetic properties in the bilayer manganite La_1.4Sr_1.6Mn₂O₇ is studied for the same dopant concentration fixed at 2%. Doping does not cause change in structure but different behavior in magnetic and transport properties. Except for Cr, all the other dopings significantly shift the magnetic transition temperature (T_C) to a lower temperature. Associated with such a decrease, the insulator-metal transition temperature (T_IM) decreases and the peak resistivity (ρ_p) at T_IM increases. Cr doping enhances T_C and T_IM as well as decreases ρ_p. Fe doping apparently has a stronger effect than Co and Ni doping. It is also indicated that Cu doping causes an anomalously large increase in ρ_p. These behaviors are compared with those observed in other bilayer manganites such as La_1.2Sr_1.8Mn₂O₇ as well as in La_0.7Ca_0.3Mn_1−xTE_xO₃.     

The effect of grain size on electrical transport and magnetic properties of La0.9Te0.1MnO3

The effect of grain size on structural, magnetic and transport properties in electron-doped manganites La_0.9Te_0.1MnO₃ has been investigated. All samples show a rhombohedral structure with the space group at room temperature. The Mn-O-Mn bond angle decreases and the Mn-O bond length increases with the increase of grain size. All samples undergo paramagnetic (PM)-ferromagnetic (FM) phase transitions and the interesting phenomenon that both magnetization and the Curie temperature T_C decrease with increasing grain size is observed, which is suggested to mainly originate from the increase of the Mn-O bond length d_Mn-O. Additionally, ρ obviously increases with decreasing grain size due to the increase of both the height and width of tunneling barriers with decreasing grain size. The results indicate that both the intrinsic colossal magnetoresistance and the extrinsic interfacial magnetoresistance can be effectively tuned in La_0.9Te_0.1MnO₃ by changing grain size.     

Emission Mössbauer studies of the magnetoresistive compound, La0.7Sr0.3MnO3

The magnetic behavior of the Sr_0.3 manganite is studied using a local microprobe, ⁵⁷Co. In contrast with Ca substituted manganites, a much larger fraction of the material exhibits short-range order with superparamagnetic-like behavior even at 80 K. The differences in behavior are attributed to the large mismatch between the ionic radii of La⁺³ and the divalent substituent Sr⁺², which introduces anharmonicity in local vibrations. In common with all other compounds exhibiting negative bulk magnetoresistivity, the Sr_0.3 compound also exhibits very marked softening of lattice as one approaches T_c from below. Application of an external magnetic field results in coalescing of nanosized magnetic clusters to form larger ones with better alignment of spins.     

Electron spin resonance study of bulk and nanosized La0.875Sr0.125MnO3

The structural, transport and electron spin resonance properties of bulk and nanosized La_0.875Sr_0.125MnO₃ prepared by a sol-gel method have been investigated. The bulk sample has an orthorhombic structure and a ferromagnetic insulating ground state. The ESR spectra indicate the coexistence of the ferromagnetic insulating and ferromagnetic metallic phases below T_C. In addition to a sharp peak in the vicinity of T_C, another sharp peak close to is clearly observed in the intensity of the spectra, which may be correlated with the structural transition and orbital ordering at this temperature. For the nanosized sample, a drastically different behavior is found. With a rhombohedral structure down to 70 K, the nanosized sample shows a ferromagnetic metallic ground state. The ESR studies reveal the coexistence of the paramagnetic and ferromagnetic resonance signals. The resonance intensity shows a broad peak around 200 K, which may be due to the wide ferromagnetic transition in the nanoparticle.     

Investigation of FIB irradiation damage in La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 thin films

In this work we analyse systematically how morphological and magnetotransport properties of manganite thin films are affected by the damage induced by focused ion beam (FIB) irradiation. We irradiate different areas of the same sample with doses ranging from 5×10¹² to 3×10¹⁷ ions/cm² and we find that the film becomes swollen for doses up to 10¹⁶ ions/cm² and is eventually eroded by ion milling for further irradiation. On the other hand, transport properties are much more sensitive to FIB irradiation: the metal–insulator transition temperature is found to decrease monotonically with increasing doses up to 1.8×10¹³ ions/cm². At doses higher than 5.6×10¹³ ions/cm² the metallic state is completely suppressed and likely, also ferromagnetism.     

Electric current-induced giant electroresistance in epitaxial La0.67Sr0.33MnO3 thin films

The electronic transport behavior of La_0.67Sr_0.33MnO₃ epitaxial thin films with different thicknesses has been investigated under various applied DC currents. The 20 and 70 nm thick films show a giant negative electroresistance (ER). In contrast, the films with 100 nm thickness show unusual giant positive ER, which can reach 30% with the current density of 1.8×10⁸ A/cm² at room temperature. It is interesting that the electric current can also change the magnetoresistance of the films. The results were explained by considering the spin polarized current induced increase of ferromagnetic metallic phase and current-induced lattice distortion via electron wind force under high current density.     

Electrical conduction through bond percolation in Nd0.67Sr0.33MnO3

We report our analysis of resistivity data on Nd_0.67Sr_0.33MnO₃ polycrystalline samples as a function of preparative conditions using a bond percolation model for a random mixture of metallic and insulating regions, assuming polaronic transport above and below the metal-insulator (M-I) transition temperature. Our analysis suggests that for oxygen deficient compounds the M-I transition that occurs at a lower temperature than the ferromagnetic transition arises from a percolation of the metallic regions. The temperature dependence of resistivity and thermopower suggests the existence of a bimodal distribution of conductivities.     

Evidence for instability in charge ordering Nd0.5Sr0.5MnO3

The transport properties and magnetic phase transitions of charge ordering manganites Nd_0.5Sr_0.5MnO₃ have been investigated. From resistivity measurements, a continuous increase of resistivity upon the thermal cycling occurs at , and shows an instable behavior in the system. The experimental results of magnetization and electron-spin-resonance spectra indicate that the ferromagnetic phase and antiferromagnetic phase coexist in a broad temperature region. We think that the origin of the instability stems from an inhomogeneous strain yielded in the ferromagnetic interface, due to the competition among different phases.     

Large magnetoresistance induced by surface ferromagnetism in A-type antiferromagnetic La0.4Sr0.6MnO3 nanoparticles

Grain size effects on magnetic and transport properties for heavily Sr-doped A-type antiferromagnetic La_0.4Sr_0.6MnO₃ ceramics were studied. It was observed that with decrease in grain size, surface ferromagnetism could be introduced due to bond-breaking at surfaces. With decrease in grain size, the surface ferromagnetism was enhanced, and the phase transition order distinguished from the Arrott plot was a second one. The surface-induced ferromagnetism was insulating as judged from transport properties. With decrease in grain size, magnetoresistance was largely improved for both high magnetic and low magnetic fields. Under a 500 Oe magnetic field, the magnetoresistance is improved from 0.2%, 0.1%, 0.03% and 0.02% for the sample with grain size of 150 nm at 10, 100, 200 and 300 K, respectively, to 3%, 2.3%, 0.43% and 0.12% for the sample with grain size of 20 nm at 10, 100, 200 and 300 K. It was interesting to find that large magnetoresistance could be induced due to the surface ferromagnetism in A-type antiferromagnetic La_0.4Sr_0.6MnO₃ nanoparticles, which suggested that it was possible to search for manganites with relatively high low-field magnetoresistance in nanostructured A-type antiferromagnetic materials.