Effect of Eu doping on structural and magneto-electrical properties of La0.7Ca0.3MnO3 manganites

We have investigated the influence of europium (Eu) doping on structural and magneto-electrical properties of La_0.7Ca_0.3MnO₃ compounds. In order to analyze the physical mechanism of a spin disorder system and study their relative evolutions, two samples of nominal compositions (La_0.7?xEu_x)Ca_0.3MnO₃ (x = 0.0 and 0.1) have been elaborated and characterized. In addition to structural changes seen by this kind of doping, the magnetoresistance (MR) and resistivity are increased while the metal–insulator transition temperature is decreased. Comparing the experimental data with the theoretical models shows that in the metal-ferromagnetic region, the electrical behaviour of both samples is quite well described by a theory based on Kondo-like spin dependent scattering, electron–electron scattering, electron–phonon and electron–magnon scatterings. For the high temperature paramagnetic insulating regime, the adiabatic small polaron hopping model is found to fit well the experimental curves.