Small-angle neutron scattering study on ferromagnetic correlation in (La, Tb)2/3Ca1/3MnO3

• Published in: Journal of the Physical Society of Japan 2001-04, Vol.70 (4), p.1090-1098
• Main Authors: WATAHIKI, Masaya, METOKI, Naoto, SUZUKI, Jun-Ichi, OIKAWA, Ken-Ichi, NIE, Jiacai, TACHIKI, Masashi, YAMADA, Yasusada
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Colossal magnetoresistance; Condensed matter: electronic structure, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties; Exact sciences and technology; Magnetic properties and materials; Magnetotransport phenomena, materials for magnetotransport; Physics
• ISSN: 0031-9015; 1347-4073
• DOI: 10.1143/jpsj.70.1090

In order to make clear a correlation between mesoscopic ferromagnetic cluster and the colossal magnetoresistance in perovskite based manganites, the systems (La1-xTbx)2/3Ca1/3MnO3 with x = 0.1 and 0.3 have been studied by small-angle neutron scattering technique. We investigated the property of mesoscopic ferromagnetic (short range ordered) cluster under the various magnetic fields and temperatures. In the sample of x = 0.3, a large number of short range ordered cluster is created below T = 150 K and persists in the two-phase coexistence state down to 8 K. The short range ordered clusters merge into single ferromagnetic domains with applying magnetic field of H = 5 T, resulting in the drop of resistivity of the order of 104. According to our model calculation, we found that roughly 50% of the system remained short range ordered phase at T = 8 K and H = 0 T. The fractional volume of the short range order phase decreased to 18% with applying magnetic field up to H = 1 T.