Electrical detection of spin reorientation transition in ferromagnetic La0.4Sm0.3Sr0.3MnO3

Field-cooled magnetization of La0.4Sm0.3Sr0.3MnO3 samples shows an anomalous maximum at a temperature T* = 45K within the ferromagnetic state, which is suggested to spin reorientation transition of the Mn sublattice aided by antiferromagnetic Sm(4f)-Mn(3d) interaction. While dc resistivity does not show any specific feature at T*, ac electrical impedance shows anomalous features at both T* and at the ferromagnetic transition temperature even in the absence of an external magnetic field. Our results indicate that ac electrical transport can be used to detect multiple magnetic phase transitions whose impact on the dc electrical transport is either weak or masked completely. (C) 2013 American Institute of Physics.