Revealing polarons with high pressure on low electron-doped manganites

Abstract

Pressure sensitivity (up to 1 GPa) of the electrical resistivity and of the ac susceptibility was measured for low electron doping levels of Ca$_{1-x}$Y$_x$MnO$_3$ (CYMO) and of Ca$_{1-x}$Sm$_x$MnO$_3$ (CSMO) ceramic samples (0.05 $\leq$ x $\leq$ 0.15). A very weak pressure dependence of the Curie temperature (T$_c$) was observed for both systems ($\sim$ 6 K GPa$^{-1}$), when compared to the hole-doped manganites of the same T$_c$ ($\sim$ 20 K GPa$^{-1}$). Our results can be interpreted within a modified Double Exchange scenario, where pressure alters the reduction of the bandwidth produced by the electron-phonon interaction associated with small Fröhlich polarons in the weak to intermediate coupling regime.

6 Revtex pages, 5 EPS figures included, submitted to Phys. Rev. B. Contact author: C. Acha (e-mail address: acha@df.uba.ar)