Extraordinary thermopower in magnetoresistive (La1−<i>x</i>Y<i>x</i>)0.67Ca0.33MnO3 oxides

Abstract

We report that the thermopower Q(T) of the (La1−xYx)0.67Ca0.33MnO3 (x=0–0.25) magnetoresistive oxides, displays a pronounced peak at temperatures Ts close to the ferromagnetic ordering temperature. The temperature Ts decreases monotonously when increasing x whereas the maximal Q(Ts) is found to increase with the Y contents. The huge enhancement of Q at Ts is found to be as high as 460% for x=0.25. It is shown that the extraordinary thermopower observed at Ts results from the reduced charge carrier mobility when approaching Ts and the variation of Q(T) with the Y contents reflects the accompanying band narrowing.