Small Magnetic Polaron Picture of Colossal Magnetoresistance in Manganites

Abstract

We present a small-but-sizeable magnetic polaron picture where transport at high temperatures is activated while at low temperatures it is band-like. We show that both double exchange and finite bandwidth effects are important to understand colossal magnetoresistance as well as the coincidence of the metal-insulator and the ferromagnetic transitions in manganites. The magnetic transition is explained using band-like motion of the polarons.

4 pages, 2 figures, corrected format