Eur. Phys. J. B 52, 199-203 (2006)
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/e2006-00282-x

Dielectric catastrophe at the magnetic field induced insulator to metal transition in Pr_1-xCa_xMnO₃(x = 0.30, 0.37) crystals

Laboratoire CRISMAT, CNRS UMR 6508, ENSICAEN, 6 Bd. du Maréchal Juin, 14050 Caen Cedex, France

Corresponding author: ^a Bohdan.Kundys@ensicaen.fr

Received: 20 October 2005
Revised: 16 June 2006
Published online: 7 July 2006

Abstract

The dielectric permittivity and resistivity have been measured simultaneously as a function of magnetic field in Pr_1-xCa_xMnO₃ crystals with different doping. A huge increase of dielectric permittivity was detected near percolation threshold. The dielectric and conductive properties are found to be mutually correlated throughout insulator to metal transition evidencing the dielectric catastrophe phenomenon. Data are analyzed in a framework of Maxwell-Garnett theory and the Mott-Hubbard theory attributed to the role of strong Coulomb interactions.