Electrical and magnetotransport properties of La0.7Sr0.3MnO3/TiO2 composites

The composite samples with nominal compositions of (1‐x) La_0.7Sr_0.3MnO₃ + x TiO₂ (x = 0, 0.05, 0.10, 0.15 and 0.20) were synthesized via solid state reaction process. The X‐ray diffraction and scanning electronic microscopy observations reveal no reaction between La_0.7Sr_0.3MnO₃ (LSMO) and TiO₂ phases. Temperature dependence resistivity measurements show that TiO₂ phase shifts the metal‐insulator transition temperature (T_p) towards lower temperature and increases the resistivity. Moreover, the magnetization of the composite samples decreases with TiO₂ content. An enhancement in magnetoresistance is observed in the composite samples with x = 0.05 and x = 0.10 at low magnetic fields, which is encouraging for potential application of magnetoresistive materials at low field. (© 2007 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)