ISSN:
1089-7550
Source:
AIP Digital Archive
Topics:
Physics
Notes:
The crystal structure and magnetoresistance of the polycrystalline La1−xLixMnO3 (x=0.10, 0.15, 0.20, 0.30) are investigated. The result of the Rietveld refinement of x-ray powder diffraction shows that the room temperature structural transition from rhombohedral (R3¯C) to orthorhombic (Pbnm) symmetry occurs at the Li-doped level x≥0.2. Accompanying the occurrence of the structural transition, the lattice distortion and the bending of the Mn–O–Mn bond increase and the ferromagnetic transition temperature TC decreases. For x=0.10 and 0.15 samples, double metal–insulator (M–I) transitions accompanying a single ferromagnetic transition and a negative magnetoresistance as high as 26% in a magnetic field of 0.8 T are observed. For x=0.20 and 0.30, the samples manifest nonmetallic behavior throughout the measured temperature range. We suggest that the double M–I transitions phenomena of low Li-doped samples originate from the magnetic inhomogeneity due to the formations of the Mn3+ and Mn4+-rich regions induced by partial substitution of the monovalent Li1+ ions for the trivalent La3+ ions. The transport property of high Li-doped samples (x=0.20 and 0.30) can be explained according to the additional localization of eg electrons induced by a static coherent Jahn–Teller distortion of the MnO6 octahedra stemming from the structural transition from rhombohedral (R3¯C) to orthorhombic (Pbnm) and the reduced bandwidth of eg electrons due to the increased bending of the Mn–O–Mn bond. © 2000 American Institute of Physics.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.1319971
