Pressure effect on the resistivity in GMR La0.60Y0.07Ca0.33MnO3 compound (abstract)

Abstract

The substitution of La+3 by smaller Y+3 ions in mixed valence Mn+3–Mn+4 perovskites La0.67−xYxCa0.33MnO3 gives rise to a decrease of the order temperature (Tc=160±5 K for x=0.07 and Tc=240 K for x=0). One of the most relevant features found in this compound was the extremely large magnetoresistance observed in bulk polycrystals (≊−10 000%) near Tc. This huge effect was associated with the reduction of the lattice parameter. In order to have an insight into the influence of volume change on transport properties in this compound, we have performed measurement of the thermal dependence of the resistivity under hydrostatic pressure up to 8 kbar. At ambient pressure a peaklike anomaly in the resistivity is observed at Tc. Under the former assumptions, one would expect an increase of the resistivity value at the maximum as well as a decrease of Tc. However, we have found a shift toward higher temperatures and a drastic decreasing of the maximum in the resistivity for increasing pressures. At a pressure of 7.5 kbar the anomaly in the resistivity almost disappears and consequently the GMR effect. As a consequence, the effect of pressure seems to be identical to the effect of the applied magnetic field. Ibarra et al. recently observed a large spontaneous magnetovolume effect at Tc with an extra contribution to the lattice thermal expansion. This extra contribution was found to be suppressed by an applied magnetic field. From these preliminary results it seems that the interplay between magnetostrictive deformations and the shrinkage of the lattice by external pressure could be in the origin of the observed behavior.