Metallicity and ferromagnetism in nanosystem of charge ordered Nd 0.5Sr 0.5MnO 3

Abstract

The fascinating phenomenon of destabilization of charge/orbital order in Nd 0.5Sr 0.5MnO 3 with the reduction of grain size is critically investigated. Based on our magnetic and transport experiments followed by a theoretical analysis, we analyze various possible mechanisms and try to delineate a universal scenario behind this phenomenon. We revisit this issue carefully and discuss various evidences from experiments in nano and bulk manganites on the absence of correlation between size reduction and pressure effects on manganites. We propose a phenomenological model based on enhanced surface disorder to explain the appearance of weak ferromagnetism and metallicity in nanosize Nd 0.5Sr 0.5MnO 3 system. All evidence seems to suggest that the transport is mediated through the surface via enhanced density of states in the nanometric grains. We provide theoretical support for this by performing an ab-initio electronic structure calculation as well as from a recent numerical simulation and argue that the mechanism is likely to be general in all nanosize charge ordered manganites. Copyright © 2012 American Scientific Publishers.