Nanoclustering phase competition induces the resistivity hump in colossal magnetoresistive manganites

Abstract

Using a two-band double-exchange model with Jahn-Teller lattice distortions and super-exchange interactions, supplemented by quenched disorder, at electron density $n=0.65$, we explicitly demonstrate the coexistence of the $n$ = 1/2-type ($\pi, \pi$) charge-ordered and the ferromagnetic nanoclusters above the ferromagnetic transition temperature $T_{\rm c}$ in colossal magnetoresistive (CMR) manganites. The resistivity increases due to the enhancement of the volume fraction of the charge-ordered and the ferromagnetic nanoclusters with decreasing the temperature down to $T_{\rm c}$. The ferromagnetic nanoclusters start to grow and merge, and the volume fraction of the charge-ordered nanoclusters decreases below $T_{\rm c}$, leading to the sharp drop in the resistivity. By applying a small external magnetic field $h$, we show that the resistivity above $T_{\rm c}$ increases, as compared with the case when $h=0$, a fact which further confirms the coexistence of the charge-ordered and the ferromagnetic nanoclusters. In addition, we show that the volume fraction of the charge-ordered nanoclusters decreases with increasing the bandwidth and consequently the resistivity hump diminishes for large bandwidth manganites, in good qualitative agreement with experiments. The obtained insights from our calculations provide a complete pathway to understand the phase competition in CMR manganites.