Influence of Ca-deficiency on the magneto-transport properties in La0.8Ca0.2MnO3 perovskite and estimation of magnetic entropy change.

La0.8Ca0.2 - x[larger_open_square]xMnO3 (x = 0.00, 0.10, and 0.20) perovskite was prepared by the conventional solid-state reaction and annealed at 1473 K. X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy shown the existence of a secondary phase attributed to the unreacted Mn3O4 oxide. The magneto transport properties have been investigated based on the temperature dependence of the resistivity ρ(T) measurements under several applied magnetic fields. We note that the La0.8Ca0.2MnO3 (x = 0.00) sample has a classical metal-insulator transition at Tρ. But we have observed that the lacunars samples (x = 0.10 and 0.20) include a metallic and insulator behavior simultaneously below Tρ and the resistivity is dominated by tunneling through the barriers associated with the insulating phase. In other words, the calcium deficiency favors the enhancement of the insulator behavior. The electrical resistivity is fitted with the phenomenological percolation model, which is based on the phase segregation of ferromagnetic metallic clusters and paramagnetic insulating regions. Furthermore, we found that the estimated results are in good agreement with experimental data. Above all, the resistivity dependence on the temperature and magnetic field data is used to deduce the magnetic entropy change. We have found that these magnetic entropy change values are similar to those calculated in our previous work from the magnetic measurements. Finally, we have found an excellent estimation of the magnetic entropy change based on the Landau theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]