Magnetoresistance of the La0.7Ca0.3MnO3 single crystal

The dependence of the resistance ρ of the La0.7Ca0.3MnO3 single crystal on the temperature (in a range of 77 < T < 410 K) and magnetic field H is studied. The dependence of the magnetoresistance Δρ/ρ of the ferromagnetic phase on the field is shown to be determined by the competition of two mechanisms. In low magnetic fields, the magnetoresistance is positive Δρ/ρ > 0 and is determined by changes in the resistance with changing magnetization orientation with respect to the crystallographic axes; in high magnetic fields, the magnetoresistance is negative Δρ/ρ < 0, since it is the suppression of spin fluctuations in the magnetic field that plays the principal role. The phase transition from the ferromagnetic to paramagnetic state is a first-order transition close to the second-order one. In the transition range, the magnetoresistance is determined by the resistivity in the zero field ρ(T) and by the shift of the transition temperature TC(H) in the magnetic field. In the paramagnetic state, the resistivity ρ(T) has an activation character; similarly to the magnetoresistance of other lanthanum manganites, the magnetoresistance of this single crystal is controlled by a change in the activation energy in the magnetic field.