Structural, magnetic and magneto-transport properties of Pr0.5Ca0.5Mn0.9V0.1O3: Indication of large field coefficient of resistance (FCR)

Abstract Structural, magnetic and magneto-transport properties of polycrystalline Pr0.5Ca0.5Mn0.9V0.1O3 have been studied. The incorporation of vanadium attributes to enhancement in the Mn3+/Mn4+ ratio as well as density of conducting eg carriers, which affects the magnetic and electrical behavior of the system. On cooling, a multi-phase separated “paramagnetic (PM) – charge-ordered antiferromagnetic (COAFM) – ferromagnetic (FM) – reentrant spin glass (RSG)” phases are observed with the characteristic charge ordering temperature TCO = 233 K and Neel temperature TN = 143 K. Field-induced first-order magnetic phase transition from a charge-ordered antiferromagnetic state to a ferromagnetic cluster glass state takes place at TC = 44 K. A 7 T magnetic field induces metal–insulator transition at TMI = 163 K. At low temperatures, strong memory-effect and colossal magnetoresistance (CMR) ~ 99.99% are observed in resistivity data. The sample shows a high field coefficient of resistance (FCR) value of about 855% in the low-temperature regime.