Experimental studies of structural phase transition in La0.8Sr0.2MnO3 single crystals

Abstract Magnetization, FMR and sound velocities were measured in La 0.8 Sr 0.2 MnO 3 single crystals in the vicinity of the structural phase transition ( T s ). A strong jump in sound velocities was observed near T s . The temperature dependences of sound velocities and magnetization show the hysteresis characteristic of a first-order phase transition. The magnetization behavior indicates that the structural phase transition is accompanied by a magnetic phase transition of the spin reorientation type. It was shown that properties of the investigated single crystals are influenced by the presence of a twin structure. The existence of the twin structure was confirmed by FMR measurements.