Effect of disorder and isotope on the properties of a two orbital double exchange system

Abstract

Abstract A two-site single electron double exchange model incorporating orbital degeneracy, superexchange and electron–phonon (e–ph) interaction is studied using exact diagonalization method. The core spins are treated quantum mechanically. We study the ground state phase diagram as well as the magnetic susceptibility and the kinetic energy of the system as a function of temperature. Effect of difference in site energies, which mimics the role of site-diagonal disorder, is investigated. The susceptibility shows a peak at a characteristic temperature which we have referred to as T 0 . The variation of T 0 with e–ph coupling and that of the isotope-shift exponent ( α ) with T 0 are obtained. We also investigate the field-induced change in the kinetic energy, which is related to the colossal magnetoresistance (CMR) of the system, and find that the disorder enhances the CMR even for the two-site system.