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American Physical Society, Physical Review Letters, 9(103), 2009

DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.103.097202

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Direct Imaging of Nanoscale Phase Separation inLa0.55Ca0.45MnO3: Relationship to Colossal Magnetoresistance

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This paper is available in a repository.

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Data provided by SHERPA/RoMEO

Abstract

A nanoscale phase is known to coincide with colossal magnetoresistance (CMR) in manganites, but its volume fraction is believed to be too small to affect CMR. Here we provide scanning-electron-nanodiffraction images of nanoclusters as they form and evolve with temperature in La(1-x)Ca(x)MnO(3), x = 0.45. They are not doping inhomogeneities, and their structure is that of the bulk compound at x = 0.60, which at low temperatures is insulating. Their volume fraction peaks at the CMR critical temperature and is estimated to be 22% at finite magnetic fields. In view of the known dependence of the nanoscale phase on magnetic fields, such a volume fraction can make a significant contribution to the CMR peak.