Magnetic and Transport Properties of La$_{0.7}$Sr$_{0.3}$Co$_{1-y}$Mn$_y$O$_3$

TL;DR

This study investigates how substituting Mn into La$_{0.7}$Sr$_{0.3}$CoO$_3$ affects its magnetic and electrical properties, revealing complex interactions and phase transitions from ferromagnetic metal to insulating spin-glass.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the effects of Mn substitution on magnetic interactions and conductivity, highlighting the absence of Mn-O-Co double exchange and the emergence of spin-glass behavior.

Findings

Mn substitution suppresses ferromagnetism and conductivity at low levels.

At y=0.1, the system becomes an insulating spin-glass.

Ferromagnetism reappears at higher Mn levels with increased resistivity.

Abstract

While both La$_{0.7}$Sr$_{0.3}$MnO$_3$ and La$_{0.7}$Sr$_{0.3}$CoO$_3$ are ferromagnets with metallic conductivity below $T_\mathrm{c}$ (360K and 220K, respectively), partial substitutions of Co by Mn in La$_{0.7}$Sr$_{0.3}$Co$_{1-y}$Mn$_y$O$_3$ ($y < 0.1$) drastically suppress the ferromagnetic long-range order pre-established by Co-O-Co double exchange and tune the conductivity towards insulating behavior. Since Mn-O-Mn double-exchange interactions are avoidable at low Mn-substitution levels, the deterioration of ferromagnetism and conductivity thus provides evidence for no Mn-O-Co double exchange (but antiferromagnetic superexchange) in the present system. At $y = 0.1$, the ferromagnetism is no longer observed; the system becomes an insulating spin-glass with $T_\mathrm{g}\approx 62$K as estimated from the ac-susceptibility data using the conventional critical slowing-down scaling law. With further substitution ($y\geq 0.3$), the ferromagnetism is recovered ($T_\mathrm{c} = 165$K for $y = 0.3$ and 200K for $y = 0.5$) while the resistivity continues increasing and exhibits insulating behavior. These results indicate that the substitution is not simply a mixture of La$_{0.7}$Sr$_{0.3}$MnO$_3$ and La$_{0.7}$Sr$_{0.3}$CoO$_3$, but produces a more complicated scenario of spin states, interactions and disorder.