Effect of second introduced phase on magnetic and magnetotransport properties of (1-x)La0.7Sr0.3Mn0.9Co0.1O3/x% Ag (x=0%, 2%, 4%) nanocomposites

Abstract

The structural, magnetic and magnetotransport properties of (1-x)La0.7Sr0.3Mn0.9Co0.1O3(LSMCO)/x% Ag (x=0%, 2%, 4%) nanocomposites were investigated to explore the role of second introduced phase. (1-x) LSMCO/x% Ag (x=0%, 2%, 4%) nanocomposites are prepared via solid-state reaction method. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and SEM analysis indicated that x% of Ag are not substituted into the main LSMCO phase and remains an additive to the second phase at grain boundaries [1]. The structural parameters and the reliability factors for all the samples were successfully determined by the Rietveld refinement. Magnetization and transport properties of (1-x)LSMCO/x% Ag nanocomposites have been reported. Resistivity of the composite samples increases with Ag content in comparison with the pure LSMCO, and suppressed with applied magnetic field in all the composite samples [2]. The metal-insulator transition (TMI) and accompanied paramagnetic-ferromagnetic transition (TC) temperatures decrease with increase in Ag content. The electrical resistivity of the experimental results is explored by theoretical model below TMI. The maximum MR was observed to be 55% in the x=4% sample at 5 K temperature under 7 T magnetic field, this value is larger than that of pure LSMCO (19% at 5 K and 7 T), which is encouraging for practical application. Summarily, the addition of Ag in LSMCO improves MR% values significantly due to the more grain boundary contribution and result in better physical properties of the parent manganite system.