Observation of charge ordering and the ferromagnetic phase transition in single crystal LSMO using rf transverse susceptibility

We performed temperature and field-dependent reversible transverse susceptibility (TS) measurements on a La0.85Sr0.15MnO3 single crystal at radio frequency (10 MHz) using a resonant tunnel-diode oscillator technique. These dynamic experiments probe the coupled electronic, magnetic and structural transition in LSMO giving rise to the ferromagnetic transition and the charge-ordered phase. The effective magnetic anisotropy fields are directly probed across the entire range from the Curie temperature to lower temperatures well into the charge-ordered state. Overall, the TS experiments are demonstrated to be useful for studying magnetic anisotropy in the presence of structural and electronic transitions in these strongly coupled systems. 0 2005 American Institute of Physics.