Electrical switching to probe complex phases in a frustrated manganite

•Electrical switching phenomenon addresses phase separation issues in manganites.•Optimum Cr-substitution induces charge ordering due to crossover from Type-I to Type II manganite.•Electrical switching strongly confirms the possible phase diagram deduced from magnetization studies.

Electrical switching was used to investigate complex phases induced by Cr-substitution in (Pr1/3Sm2/3)2/3Sr1/3MnO3. This system was expected to transform from a Type I (Mn4+/Mn3+≈3/7) to Type II (Mn4+/Mn3+≈1) manganite at critical Cr content, satisfying a virtual Mn4+/Mn3+ ratio close to unity. The phase diagram of (Pr1/3Sm2/3)2/3Sr1/3Mn0.8Cr0.2O3 including charge/spin ordered/disordered phases was probed by electrical switching. The ferromagnetic insulating phase at <~100 K, located next to the charge-ordered antiferromagnetic phase, exhibited a sudden rise in conductivity upon electric-field biasing. This resulted from the melting of charge ordering, and demonstrated the presence of a crossover regime of two coexisting magnetic orderings.