The structural, magnetic, and electrical transport properties of Sn-doped manganite La_{0.67}Ca_{0.33}Mn_{1-x} Sn_xO_{3-δ} (x=0, 0.01, 0.03, andδ≈0.06) compounds were studied using X-ray powder diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, AC susceptometer and vibrating sample magnetometer measurements as well as four-probe resistance measurements. The specific heat was measured by the heat-pulse method. The Curie temperature T_C and the metal-insulator transition temperature T_{M-I} decreased nonlinearly with increasing Sn content. The T_C and T_{M-I} values, for the x=0, 0.01, and 0.03 compounds were separated by 18.2 K, 66.3 K, and 10 K, respectively. The resistivity above T_C for all of these compounds followed the Mott variable-range-hopping model. This allowed the estimation of the localization lengths of 2.2Å (x = 0), 1.33Å (x=0.01) and 1.26Å (x=0.03). The x=0 and x=0.01 compounds exhibited anomalies of R(T) at corresponding T_C and allowed the separation of the magnitude of the purely magnetic contribution to the resistance which for x=0 was≈5 .7Ω and for x=0.01,≈22 .4Ω. The specific heat of the Sn-free sample exhibited a sharp peak at T_C. With increasing Sn content the peak at T_C broadened and the area under the peak decreased. For x= 0.03 the peak was hardly detectable. Our results on La_{0.67}Ca_{0.33} Mn_{1-x}Sn_xO_3 reveal that a small substitution of Sn^{4+} for Mn^{4+} suppresses double exchange interactions and strongly affects the magnetic, thermal, and transport properties of the parent compound.
Studies of the specific heat and simultaneous AC magnetic susceptibility (ρ') and electric resistance of stoichiometric magnetite single crystal are presented. The temperature hysteresis of the Verwey transition is of 0.03 K found from the specific heat data confirming its first-order character. The continuous temporal change of ρ' at T_V can be switched off by an external magnetic field without affecting the transition. The electrical resistance decreases continuously with increasing temperature with a rapid change of slope at the point when the phase transition is completed. It was concluded that the magnetic degrees of freedom do not actively participate in the transition and that the entropy released at T_V may come from ordering electrons.
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