Phase Transition and Magneto-caloric Properties of Perovskites Pr$_{0.55}$Sr$_{0.45}$MnO$_{3}$: Modeling versus Experiments

Abstract

Experimental data obtained with the perovskite compounds Pr$_{0.55}$Sr$_{0.45}$MnO$_{3}$ show that the magnetization decreases with increasing temperature $T$ and undergoes a very sharp phase transition to the paramagnetic phase. The sharp transition in a system with a strong disorder is very rare, if not non-existent, in the theory of phase transition in systems of short-range pairwise exchange interactions. To understand this remarkable property, we introduce a model including a multispin (cluster-like) interaction between Mn ions, in addition to the usual pairwise exchange terms between these ions and the Mn-Pr interactions. We carry out Monte Carlo (MC) simulations. Due to the doping, Mn$^{4+}$ with $S=3/2$ has the concentration of Pr$^{3+}$ ($S=1$) and Mn$^{3+}$ with $S=2$ has the Sr concentration. After attempts with different spin models and various Hamiltonians, we find that the many-state Ising spin model reproduces most of the experimental results. For the Hamiltonian, we find that pairwise interactions alone between ions cannot reproduce the sharp transition and the magnetization below $T_C$. We have to include a multispin interaction as said above. We fit the MC results with experimental data, and we estimate values of various exchange interactions in the system. These values are found to be in the range of those found in perovskite manganite compounts. We also study the applied-field effect on the magnetization in the temperature region below and above the transition temperature $T_C$. We calculate the magnetic entropy change $|\Delta S_m|$ and the Relative Cooling Power, for magnetic field from 1 to 3 Tesla. Our simulation results are in good agreement with experiments.