St. Olaf College | Physics Department

"CMR Materials: Nanoscale Inhomogeneity
and Colossal Responses"

Melissa Eblen-Zayas

Physics, Carleton College

One serious shortcoming in solid state physics is the inability to describe the properties of materials in which electrons strongly interact with each other. Such correlated electron materials exhibit exotic behavior such as high-temperature superconductivity and colossal magnetoresistance (CMR). Recently, manganites, which exhibit CMR, have drawn much attention due to their complex phase diagrams and evidence of nanoscale phase inhomogeneity. Questions arise as to whether other CMR materials also exhibit phase inhomogeneity and what produces the phase inhomogeneity.

I will discuss our efforts to address these questions through research into the responses of two different CMR materials--the manganite, La_1-xCa_xMnO₃, and Eu-rich EuO.