Structural, magnetic and magnetotransport behavior of La0.7SrxCa0.3-xMnO3 compounds

A systematic investigation of the structural, magnetic and electrical properties of a series of nanocrystalline La0.7SrxCa0.3-xMnO3 materials, prepared by high energy ball milling method and then annealed at 900 degrees C has been undertaken. The analysis of the XRD data using the Win-metric software shows an increase in the unit cell volume with increasing Sr ion concentration. The La0.7SrxCa0.3-xMnO3 compounds undergo a structural orthorhombic-to-monoclinic transition at x=0.15. Electric and magnetic measurements show that both the Curie temperature and the insulator-to-metal transition temperature increase from 259 K and 253 K correspondingly for La0.7Ca0.3MnO3 (x=0) to 353 K and 282 K, respectively, for La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 (x=0.3). It is argued that the larger radius of Sr2+ ion than that of Ca2+ is the reason to strengthen the double-exchange interaction and to give rise to the observed increase of transition temperatures. Using the phenomenological equation for conductivity under a percolation approach, which depends on the phase segregation of ferromagnetic metallic clusters and paramagnetic insulating regions, we fitted the resistivity versus temperature data measured in the range of 50-320 K and found that the activation barrier decreased with the raising Sr2+ ion concentration. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.