Current-induced electroresistance in CMR materials La1-xBaxMnO3

The influence of a transport dc current on electric resistance has been investigated in epitaxial thin films La_1-xBa_xMnO₃ (x = 0.1, 0.3), which typically shows CMR (colossal magnetoresistance) effect. Attention was focused at the influence of the applied dc current on the resistance in the absence of a magnetic field. Significant change of ratio of the peak resistance at different currents was found. The reduction of the peak resistance reaches ∼27%, and ∼13% with a current density up to 1.3 × 1⁰5 Acm^-2, and 1.25 × 10⁵ Acm^-2 for x = 0.1, and 0.3 film, respectively. The current-induced electroresistance in film x = 0.1 is larger than that of x = 0.3 at any applied current density, which is consistent with the observed CMR effect. The film x = 0.1 also shows larger CMR than x = 0.3 at any applied magnetic field. The action of a current density of 1.3 × 10⁵ Acm^-2, for the both cases, was found to be equivalent to the MR effect caused by 1.5 T near Curie temperature T_C. The phenomenon that the resistance in CMR manganites could be easily controlled by the electric current should be of high interest for both fundamental research and practical application.