https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/e2006-00387-2
Comparative study of magnetic and electric field induced insulator-metal-transitions in Pr1-xCaxMnO3 films
Institut für Materialphysik, Friedrich-Hund-Platz 1, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
Corresponding author: a jooss@ump.gwdg.de
Received:
6
June
2006
Revised:
8
September
2006
Published online:
20
October
2006
The insulator-metal (IM)-transition in Pr1-xCaxMnO3 (PCMO) is of particular interest because it can be induced by a variety of external forces, such as magnetic and electric fields, photon exposure and hydrostatic pressure. In this paper, we present a comparative study of the IM-transition in magnetic and electric fields for epitaxial thin films prepared by pulsed laser deposition. The transport data as a function of applied field or temperature give strong evidence for the presence of electronic phase separation. However, the observed different IM-transitions in magnetic and electric fields indicate that two different areas of spatially inhomogeneous electronic ground states in the phase diagram of PCMO are involved.
PACS: 73.50.-h – Electronic transport phenomena in thin films / 75.47.-m – Magnetotransport phenomena; materials for magnetotransport / 75.47.Lx – Manganites / 71.30.+h – Metal-insulator transitions and other electronic transitions
© EDP Sciences, Società Italiana di Fisica, Springer-Verlag, 2006
