Electric Field Induced Collapse of Charge-Ordered Phase in Manganites

TL;DR

This paper presents a phenomenological model explaining how electric fields induce a phase transition from charge-ordered insulator to metal in manganites, with insights into hysteresis and effects of magnetic fields.

Contribution

It introduces a new phenomenological phase transition model for electric field-induced collapse of charge-ordered phases in manganites, explaining hysteresis and magnetic field effects.

Findings

Charge-ordered phase collapses under electric field leading to insulator-metal transition.

Hysteresis behavior explained via effective medium approximation.

Critical electric field decreases with applied magnetic field.

Abstract

The colossal electroresistance in manganites is a concomitant of the electric field induced insulator-to-metal phase transition. A phenomenological phase transition model is proposed to study this electric field induced collapse of charge-ordered phase. The hysteresis of the phase transition is well explained using the effective medium approximation. The volume fraction of metallic region at the metal-to-insulator transition point is estimated as 30%. In addition, it is found that the critical electric field to melt the charge-ordered phase will decrease with the applied magnetic field.