Influence of electron beam irradiation on electrical, structural, magnetic and thermal properties of Pr0.8Sr0.2MnO3 manganites

In this communication, the effect of electron beam (EB) irradiation on the structural, electrical transport and thermal properties of Pr0.8Sr0.2MnO3 manganites has been investigated. Rietveld refinement of XRD data reveals that all samples are single phased with orthorhombic distorted structure (Pbnm). It is observed that the orthorhombic deformation increases with EB dosage. The Mn-O-Mn bond angle is found to increase with increase in EB dosage, presumably due to strain induced by these irradiations. Analysis on the measured electrical resistivity data indicates that the small polaron hopping model is operative in the high temperature region for pristine as well as EB irradiated samples. The electrical resistivity in the entire temperature region has been successfully fitted with the phenomenological percolation model which is based on phase segregation of ferromagnetic metallic clusters and paramagnetic insulating regions. The Seebeck coefficient (S) of the pristine as well as the irradiated samples exhibit positive values, indicating that holes is the dominant charge carriers. The analysis of Seebeck coefficient data confirms that the small polaron hopping mechanism governs the thermoelectric transport in the high temperature region. In addition, Seebeck coefficient data also is well fitted with the phenomenological percolation model. The behavior in thermal conductivity at the transition is ascribed to the local anharmonic distortions associated with small polarons. Specific heat measurement indicates that electron beam irradiation enhances the magnetic inhomogeneity of the system.