Transport and Magnetic Properties of Eu and Sr Doped Manganite Compound La0.7Ca0.3MnO3

The effect of simultaneous increase in carrier density and size-disorder on the transport and magnetic properties of La_0.7Ca_0.3MnO₃ has been investigated by studying the (La_{0.7 − 2x} Eu _x )(Ca_0.3Sr _x )MnO₃ (0.05 ≤ x ≤ 0.2) (LECSMO) compounds. These compounds have been compared with standard La_{1 − x} Ca _x MnO₃ (0.3 ≤ x ≤ 0.5) (LCMO) in which carrier density alone varies. In LECSMO, the insulator-metal transition temperature (T _p) decreases from 180 K for x = 0.05 to 80 K for x = 0.15 sample vis-à-vis ∼240 K for x = 0.35 to ∼225 K for x = 0.45 in LCMO system. Similarly, the Curie temperature (T _C) in LECSMO, decreases from 205 K for x = 0.05 to 75 K for x = 0.2 sample against 240 K for x = 0.35 to ∼220 K for x = 0.45 in LCMO system. Also, in LCMO the T _C and T _p are coincident whereas, in LECSMO system, with increasing x there is an increasing disparity between the two. At 5 K, in the metallic region, a large MR (>90%) is observed in x = 0.15 sample and is discussed in terms of phase segregation and inter-grain magnetoresistance.