Studies on perovskite rare earth manganites of general formula R1-xAxMnO3 (where R is a trivalent rare earth ion such as La3+, Pr3+ etc. and A is a divalent alkaline earth ion such as Ca2+, Sr2+, Ba2+, have been a very active research area in the last few years in condensed matter physics. Manganites have a distorted perovskite crystal structure with R and A ions situated at the cube corners, oxygen ions at the edge centers of the cube and Mn ions at the centres of the oxygen octahedra. In these manganites the Mn ions are found to be in mixed valence state i.e., in Mn3+ and Mn4+ states. In the octahedral crystal field of oxygen ions the single ion energy levels are split into t2g and eg levels. Mn3+ being a Jahn-Teller ion, the eg level is further split due to the Jahn-Teller effect. A strong Hund’s coupling between the spins in the t2g and eg levels renders the Mn3+ ions to be in the high spin state. The interplay of competing super exchange between Mn ions which determines the antiferromagnetism, orbital ordering and insulating behavior and double exchange between Mn ions which leads to ferromagnetism and metallicity gives rise to very complex phase diagrams of manganites as a function of composition, temperature and magnetic field. The strength of these interactions is determined by various factors such as the A-site cation radius and the Jahn-Teller distortion due to the presence of Mn3+ ions. The strongly coupled charge, spin, lattice and orbital degrees of freedom in manganites gives rise to complex phenomena such as colossal magnetoresistance (CMR), charge order (CO) and orbital order (OO) and phase separation (PS) etc. The properties of these materials are sensitive functions of external stimuli such as the doping, temperature and pressure [1-5] and have been extensively studied both experimentally and theoretically in single crystal, bulk polycrystalline and thin film forms of the samples [6-9]. Charge ordering is one of the fascinating properties exhibited by manganites. Charge ordering has historically been viewed as a precursor to the complex ordering of the Mn 3d orbitals, which in turn determine the magnetic interactions and these magnetic interactions are the driving force for charge localization and orbital order. This ordering of Mn3+ / Mn4+ charges can be destabilized by many methods. An external magnetic field can destabilize the charge ordered phase and drive the phase transition to the ferromagnetic metallic state [10-11]. Other than magnetic field, charge ordering can also be ‘melted’ by a variety of perturbations like electric field [12, 13], hydrostatic and chemical pressure [14-16], irradiation by X-rays [17], substitution at the Mn -site [18 -21] and A-site [22]. Of these, A-site substitution with bigger cations like barium is particularly of great interest since it does not interrupt the conduction path in the “MnO3” frame work Recently attention has been drawn towards the properties of nanoscale manganites. The nanoscale materials are expected to behave quite differently from extended solids due to quantum confinement effects and high surface/volume ratio. Nanoscale CMR manganites have been fabricated using diverse methods in the form of particles, wires, tubes and various other forms by different groups. It has been shown that the properties of CMR manganites can be tuned by reducing the particle size down to nanometer range and by changing the morphology [23-27]. As mentioned above, charge order is an interesting phase of manganites and these CO mangnites in the form of nanowires and nanoparticles show drastic changes in their properties compared to bulk. In contrast to the studies on the CMR compounds, there are very few reports on charge ordering nano manganites except on nanowires of Pr0.5Ca0..5MnO3 [28] and nanoparticles of Nd0.5Ca0.5MnO3 [29] and Pr0.5Sr0..5MnO3 [30]. This thesis is an effort in understanding certain aspects of charge order destabilization by two different methods, namely, doping bigger size cation (barium) in A-site (external perturbation) and by reducing the particle size to nano scale ( intrinsic). For this purpose we have selected the charge ordering system Pr1-xCaxMnO3 (PCMO) with composition x = 0.43. The reason behind choosing this composition is the observation [31] that CO is particularly weak for this value of x. We have prepared bulk, nanoparticles and nanowires of Pr0.57Ca0.41Ba0.02MnO3 manganite and have carried out microstructure, magnetic, magneto transport and EMR measurements to understand the nature of CO destabilization and also to understand other aspects such as magneto transport and magnetic anisotropy . Apart from destabilization of the charge order in PCMO we have also studied the bismuth based manganite Bi0.5Ca0.5MnO3. The reason behind choosing this system is the robust charge order of Bi0.5Ca0.5MnO3 compared to rare earth based manganites. So far no attempt has been made in comparing the electron paramagnetic resonance properties of bismuth based manganites with those of the rare earth based manganites. We have studied the magnetic, transport and electron paramagnetic resonance properties of Bi0.5Ca0.5MnO3 prepared by solid state reaction method and compared the results with those of Pr0.5Ca0.5MnO3 . In the following we present a chapter wise summary of the thesis. Chapter 1 of the thesis contains a brief introduction to the general features of manganites describing various interesting phenomena exhibited by them and the underlying interactions . Chapter 2 contains a detailed review of EPR studies on manganites describing the current level of understanding in the area. In this chapter we have also described the different experimental methodology adopted in this thesis. Chapter 3 reports the effect of a small amount (2%) of barium doped in the charge ordered antiferromagnetic insulating manganite Pr0.57Ca0.43MnO3. The samples were prepared by solid state synthesis and charecterized by various techniques like XRD, EDXA. The results of magnetization, magnetotransport and EPR/EMR experiments on both Pr0.57Ca0.43MnO3 and Pr0.57Ca0.41Ba0.02MnO3 are compared. The magnetization studies show that barium doping induces ferromagnetic phase in place of the CO-antiferromagnetic phase of the pristine sample at low temperatures as reported earlier by Zhu et al.,[31]. The transport studies show insulator to metal transition. The EPR parameters viz line width, intensity and ‘g’ value of Pr0.57Ca0.43MnO3 and Pr0.57Ca0.41Ba0.02MnO3 are compared. The magnetization and EPR studies reveal that the CO transition temperature TCO has shifted to a slightly lower value accompanied by a small decrease in the strength of the charge order. Thus a small amount of barium affects the CO phase of Pr0.57Ca0.43MnO3 and it also induces a ferromagnetic metallic phase at low temperature. Another most important and unexpected result of EMR experiment is the observation of high field signals, i.e. two EMR signals are observed at low temperatures in the ferromagnetic phase of Pr0.57Ca0.41Ba0.02MnO3. The appearance of the high field signals are understood in terms of the effects of magneto crystalline anisotropy. Chapter 4, reports the microstructure, magnetization and EMR studies of Pr0.57Ca0.41Ba0.02MnO3 nanoparticles prepared by sol-gel method. We have mainly focused on the effect of size on the charge ordered phase. The samples were characterized by different techniques like XRD, EDXA and TEM. The obtained particle size of the samples are 30, 60 and 100 nm respectively. We have compared the magnetic, magneto transport and EMR results of these nano samples with the bulk properties. The 30 nm particles do not show the CO phase whereas the 60 and 100 nm particles show CO signatures in DC- magnetization measurements. The EPR intensity also shows a similar trend. These results confirm that charge ordering can also be destabilized by reducing the particle size to nano scale. But the EPR linewidth which reflects the spin dynamics shows a change in the slope near the CO temperature and there by indicates the presence of premonitory charge ordering fluctuations in smaller particles. We also observed that the EMR linewidth increases with the decrease of particle size. Another striking result is the disappearance of high field signals in all the nanosamples. This is understood in terms of a decrease in the magnetic anisotropy in nanoparticles. Part of the result of this chapter is published [32]. Chapter 5, reports the morphological, magnetic and electron paramagnetic resonance studies of Pr0.57Ca0.41Ba0.02MnO3 nanowires. Recently our group has studied the nanowires of Pr0.5Ca0..5MnO3 [28]. In the nanowire sample of Pr0.5Ca0..5MnO3 only a partial suppression of CO is observed. This raises the question about the incomplete suppression of the CO in the nanowires: is this a consequence of the material being microscopic in one dimension and is it necessary to have a 3-dimensional nano material to have full suppression of the charge order ? In the present work we attempt to provide an answer to this question. PCBM nanowires of diameter 80-90 nm and length of ∼ 3.5 μm were synthesized by a low reaction temperature hydrothermal method. We have confirmed the single phase nature of the sample by XRD experiments. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and trasmission electron microscopy (TEM) were used to characterize the morphology and microstructures of the nanowires. The surface of nanowires was composed of particles of different grain size and interestingly some particles were hexagonal in shape. The bulk PCBM manganite exhibits charge order at 230 K along with a ferromagnetic transition at 110 K. However, SQUID measurements on PCBM nano-wires show a complete melting of the charge ordering and a ferromagnetic transition at 115 K. The magnetization observed in the nanowires was less compared to that in the bulk. EPR intensity measurements also support this result. Characteristic differences were observed in linewidth and ‘g’ factor behaviors of nanowires when compared with those of the bulk. EPR linewidth which reflects the spin dynamics shows a slope change near the CO temperature (like in nanoparticles) possibly due to charge order fluctuations in nanowires. The high field signals were absent in nanowires as well. Part of the result of this chapter is published [33]. Chapter 6 deals with the magnetic and electron paramagnetic resonance studies on Pr0.5Ca0.5MnO3 and Bi0.5Ca0.5MnO3. These manganites are prepared by solid state reaction method and characterized by different techniques like XRD and EDXA. Further, we have compared the results of magnetization and electron paramagnetic resonance properties of Pr0.5Ca0.5MnO3 with those of Bi0.5Ca0.5MnO3 manganite in the temperature range of 10- 300 K. The two charge ordered manganites show significant differences in their behavior. The temperature dependence of the EPR parameters i.e. line width, central field and intensity of Bi0.5Ca0.5MnO3 are quite different from the rare earth based manganite i.e. Pr0.5Ca0.5MnO3. Linewidth of BCMO is large compared to PCMO manganite and interestingly the temperature dependence of the central fields (CF) of PCMO and BCMO show opposite behavior. The CF of PCMO decreases with decrease in temperature as found in a large number of other CO systems, whereas CF of BCMO increases with decrease in temperature. This unusual behavior of resonance field is attributed to the different magnetic structure of BCMO system at low temperatures. Chapter 7 sums up the results reported in the thesis. The insight gained from the present work in understanding the destabilization of charge order by chemical doping and size reduction is discussed as well as the differences in the properties of bismuth and rare earth manganites. Further, we have indicated possible future directions of research in this area.

The chemistry of mineral surfaces is of great importance in many different areas including natural processes occurring in oceans, rivers, lakes and soils. Manganese (hydr)oxides are one important group to these natural processes, and the thermodynamically most stable trivalent manganese (hydr)oxide, manganit (γ-MnOOH), is studied in this thesis. This thesis summarises six papers in which the surface chemistry of synthetic manganite has been investigated with respect to surface acid-base properties, dissolution, and adsorption of Cd(II) and the herbicide N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine (glyphosate, PMG). In these papers, a wide range of analysis techniques were used, including X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectroscopy, Fourier transform infra-red (FTIR) spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy (AFM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), potentiometry, electrophoretic mobility measurements and wet chemical techniques, in order to obtain a more complete understanding of the different processes occurring at the manganite-water interface. From the combined use of these techniques, a 1-pKa acid-base model was established that is valid at pH>6. The model includes a Na+ interaction with the surface: =MnOH2+½ --> =MnOH-½ + H+ log β0 (intr.) = -8.20 = -pHiep =MnOH2+½ + Na+ --> =MnOHNa+½ + H+ log β0 (intr.) = -9.64 At pH<6 the manganite crystals dissolve and disproportionate into pyrolusite (β-MnO2) and Mn(II)-ions in solution according to: 2 γ-MnOOH + 2H+ --> β-MnO2 + Mn2+ + 2H2O log K0 = 7.61 ± 0.10 The adsorption and co-adsorption of Cd(II) and glyphosate at the manganite surface was studied at pH>6. Cd(II) adsorption displays an adsorption edge at pH~8.5. Glyphosate adsorbs over the entire pH range, but the adsorption decreases with increasing pH. When the two substances are co-adsorbed, the adsorption of Cd(II) is increased at low pH but decreased at high pH. The adsorption of glyphosate is increased in the entire pH range in the presence of Cd(II). From XPS, FTIR and EXAFS it was found that glyphosate and Cd(II) form inner sphere complexes. The binary Cd(II)-surface complex is bonded by edge sharing of Mn and Cd octahedra on the (010) plane of manganite. Glyphosate forms inner-sphere complexes through an interaction between the phosphonate group and the manganite surface. The largest fraction of this binary glyphosate complex is protonated throughout the pH range. A ternary surface complex is also present, and its structure is explained as type B ternary surface complex (surface-glyphosate-Cd(II)). The chelating rings between the Cd(II) and glyphosate, found in aqueous complexes, are maintained at the surface, and the ternary complex is bound to the surface through the phosphonate group of the ligand.

Perovskite rare-earth manganites of the form R1-xAxMnO3 (R – rare earth ion or Bi, A – Ca,Sr) have drawn an overwhelming research interest during the last few years owing to their extraordinary physical properties. Some of the interesting phenomena exhibited by the manganites are (a) colossal magneotresistance (CMR) (b) charge, orbital and spin ordering and (c) phase separation at nano and micron scale. The manganites are strongly correlated systems in which the charge, spin and orbital degrees of freedom are coupled. The properties of these materials are sensitive functions of external stimuli such as the doping, temperature and pressure [1-5] and have been extensively studied both experimentally and theoretically on single crystal, bulk polycrystalline and thin film forms of the samples [6-9]. Recently attention has been drawn towards the properties of nanoscale manganites. The nanoscale materials are expected to behave quite differently from extended solids due to quantum confinement effects and high surface/volume ratio. Nanoscale CMR manganites have been fabricated using diverse methods in the form of particles, wires, tubes and various other forms by different groups. It has been shown that the properties of CMR manganites can be tuned by reducing the particle size down to nanometer range and by changing the morphology [10-14]. The physical properties of antiferromagnetic insulating charge ordered manganites have been well investigated by using numerous experimental techniques on bulk solids. It is known that the charge ordered (CO) phase is ‘melted’ resulting in a ferromagnetic, metallic phase on application of high magnetic fields, electric fields, impurity ion doping, high energetic ion irradiation and by pressure [15-17]. However, no attempts have been made on the fabrication and the physical property investigations on nanoscale charge ordered manganites. Hence, we have undertaken to study the properties of charge ordered manganites prepared at nanoscale using various experimental probes. In this thesis we present the results on magnetization, magnetotransport and Electron Magnetic Resonance (EMR) (electron paramagnetic resonance in the paramagnetic phase and ferromagnetic resonance in the ferromagnetic phase) studies of the following nanoscale compounds and compare the properties with those of their bulk counterparts; (a) highly robust antiferromagnetic insulating CE –type charge ordered manganite Pr0.5Ca0.5MnO3 (PCMO) (b) highly robust antiferromagnetic insulating CE- type charge ordered manganite Nd0.5Ca0.5MnO3 (NCMO) (c) moderately robust A-type charge ordered manganite Pr0.5Sr0.5MnO3 (PSMO) (d) highly robust insulating anti-ferromagnetic charge ordered manganites Bi0.5Ca0.5MnO3 (BCMO) and Bi0.5Sr0.5MnO3 (BSMO) and (e) a CMR manganite Pr0.7Pb0.3MnO3 (PPMO). Chapter 1 of the thesis contains a brief introduction to the general features of manganites describing various interesting phenomena and the interactions underlying them. Further, we have written a detailed review on the properties of nanometric CMR manganites of various sizes and shapes. In this chapter, we have also described the experimental methodology and the analysis procedure adopted in this work Chapter 2 reports the fabrication of nanowires and nanoparticles of Pr0.5Ca0.5MnO3 (PCMO) and the results obtained from magnetization, magnetotransport and electron magnetic resonance measurements performed on nanoscale PCMO along with their comparison with those of the bulk sample. Here, the nanowires of PCMO were prepared by hydrothermal method and the nanoparticles of mean sizes 10, 20 and 40 nm were prepared by polymer assisted sol-gel method. Solid state reaction method was used to prepare the micron sized PCMO bulk material. Different techniques like XRD, TEM, EDAX and ICPAES have been used to characterize the samples. The novel result of the present investigation is the weakening of charge order and switch over from the anti-ferromagnetic phase to ferromagnetic phase in PCMO nanowires [18]. In addition, the charge order is seem to have completely suppressed in 10 nm PCMO nanoparticles as observed from the magnetization measurements. These results are particularly very significant as one needs magnetic fields of ~ 27 T to melt the charge ordered phase in PCMO. Size induced insulator-metal transition TM-I is observed in nanoscale PCMO at low temperatures accompanied by ferromagnetism. CMR of 99.7% is obtained at TM-I and at a field of 11 T. EMR studies have confirmed the presence of ferromagnetic phase at low temperatures. Temperature dependent EMR line width and intensity have shown the presence of CO phase in PCMO10 though static magnetization measurements have shown the absence of CO phase. It is found that the EMR linewidth increases with the decrease of particle size. Chapter 3 reports the fabrication of nanoparticles of Nd0.5Ca0.5MnO3 (NCMO) and the results obtained from magnetization, magnetotransport and electron magnetic resonance measurements performed on nanoscale NCMO along with their comparison with those of bulk NCMO. The nanoparticles of NCMO of mean sizes 5, 20 and 40 nm were prepared by polymer assisted sol-gel method. Solid state reaction method was used to prepare the micron sized NCMO bulk material. Different techniques like XRD, TEM, EDAX and ICPAES have been used to characterize the samples. A striking result of this particular investigation is the complete suppression of charge ordered phase in 5 and 20 nm NCMO nanoparticles as observed from the magnetization measurements [19]. Size induced insulator-metal transition TM-I is observed in nanoscale NCMO at low temperatures accompanied by ferromagnetism in accordance with Zener double exchange meachanism. CMR of 99.7% is obtained at TM-I and at a field of 11 T. EMR studies have confirmed the presence of ferromagnetic phase at low temperatures. Temperature dependent EMR line width and intensity have shown the presence of residual CO fluctuations in NCMO5 though the static magnetization measurements have shown the absence of CO phase. It is found that the EMR linewidth increases with the decrease of particle size. Low temperature X-ray diffraction measurements on NCMO20 indicate the absence of CO phase. But the preliminary results obtained from the optical spectroscopy measurements indicate the evidence for the presence of CO phase. In Chapter 4, we report the investigations on the nanoscale PSMO. PSMO nanoparticles of sizes 20, 40 and 60 nm are prepared by polymer precursor sol-gel method. PSMO nanowires of diameter 50 nm and lengths of a few microns have been prepared by hydrothermal method. The bulk polycrystalline PSMO is obtained by crushing the single crystal of the same prepared by float zone method. Various techniques like XRD, TEM, VSM, transport measurements and EMR spectroscopy have been employed to characterize and to study the size dependent magnetic, transport and electron magnetic resonance properties and to compare them with those of the bulk. Our results show that there is a disappearance of anti-ferromagnetic charge ordering phase and the appearance of a ferromagnetic phase at low temperatures in all PSMO nanoparticles and nanowires. Metal like behaviour is observed in the size induced ferromagnetic phase in nanoparticles. The EMR linewidth increases with the decrease of particle size. A comparison with the properties of the bulk material shows that the ferromagnetic transition at 265 K remains unaffected but the anti-ferromagnetic transition at TN = 150 K disappears in the nanoparticles. Further, the temperature dependence of magnetic anisotropy shows a complex behaviour, being higher in the nanoparticles at high temperatures, lower at lower temperatures in comparison with the bulk [20]. In Chapter 5, we present the fabrication, characterization and the results obtained from the magnetization and EMR measurements carried out on BCMO and BSMO nanoparticles and compare the results with those of the bulk. X-ray diffraction gives evidence for single phasic nature of the materials as well as their structures. Mono-dispersed to a large extent, isolated nanoparticles are seen in the transmission electron micrographs. High resolution electron microscopy shows the crystalline nature of the nanoparticles. Superconducting quantum interferometer based magnetic measurements from 10 K to 300 K show that these nanomanganites retain the charge ordering nature unlike the Pr and Nd based nanomanganites. The CO in Bi based manganites is thus found to be very robust consistent with the observation that magnetic fields of the order of 130 T are necessary to melt the CO in these compounds. These results are supported by electron magnetic resonance measurements [21]. In Chapter 6, we present our results on the effect of particle size on the magnetic properties of Pr0.7Pb0.3MnO3 (PPMO). PPMO nanoparticles of two different sizes (~5 nm and 30 nm) were prepared by the polymeric precursor sol-gel method. The samples are characterized by different techniques like XRD, TEM, SQUID magnetometry, EMR and optical spectroscopic measurements. It is found that the nanoparticles crystallize in the cubic perovskite structure. TEM measurements show that the 5 nm particles are uniform in size. They are also crystalline as seen by HREM and XRD measurements. SQUID magnetometry measurements have shown that the Curie temperature increases (from 220 K to 235 K) with the increase of particle size. Saturation magnetization is higher for the smaller particles studied. We have observed only one EMR signal down to 4 K in both the nanoparticles (5 and 30 nm) in contrast to the two EMR signal behaviour observed in bulk PPMO [22]. It is found that the EMR linewidth increases with the decrease of particle size in the paramagnetic phase. Temperature dependent optical spectroscopy measurements performed on 5 nm PPMO nanoparticles indicate that the insulator-metal transition temperature TM-I = 230 K, is not very different from TM-I = 235 K of the bulk sample [23] The thesis concludes with a brief writeup summarizing the results and pointing out possible future directions of research in the area.

Ein großes Hindernis für die Anwendbarkeit von oxidischen Perowskiten in elektrotechnischen oder spintronischen Applikationen, ist die Größe der spezifischen Temperaturen, bei der die physikalischen Phänomene, wie Ferromagnetismus oder Hochtemperatur-Supraleitung, beobachtet werden können. Die physikalischen Eigenschaften der Perowskite zeigen eine Abhängigkeit von der Ordnung der verschiedenartigen Metallionen in mehrkomponentigen Systemen. Die Abhängigkeit ergibt sich durch den Einfluss der Metallionen auf die Elektronenkonfiguration und elastischen Verspannung innerhalb des Materials. Man spricht in diesem Zusammenhang auch von der Kontrolle der Füllung und der Bandbreite der elektronischen Bänder im Material durch die Wahl der Metallionen. Die Zielsetzung dieser Arbeit ist die Präparation und Charakterisierung von künstlich A-Platz geordneten schmal- und breitbandigen Manganat Dünnfilmen als auch von natürlich B-Platz geordneten ferro-/ferrimagnetischen doppelperowskitischen Dünnfilmen. Für die Präparation der dünnen Schichten wurde die unkonventionelle Metallorganischen Aerosol Deposition (MAD) verwendet. Es konnte gezeigt werden, dass diverse künstlich oder natürlich Kationengeordnete Perowskite mit der MAD Technologie präpariert werden können. Die lagenweise A-Platz Ordnung in Manganaten führt, über die Modulation der Gitterverspannung und der Elektronenbesetzung im eg-Band der Manganionen, zu modifizierten elektronischen und magnetischen Eigenschaften. In schmalbandigen CMR Manganaten wurde die PS und somit der CMR über die Ordnung beeinflusst, während in breitbandigen CMR Manganaten ein Weg aufgezeigt werden konnte, der zu Übergangstemperaturen TC > 370K führen kann. In geordneten, ferromagnetischen Doppelperowskiten wurde der Einfluss und die Anwesenheit von Antiphasen-Grenzen dargelegt. Über die Einführung einer aktiven Valenz-Kontrolle, konnte die Präparation von halbmetallischen, ferrimagnetischen Doppelperowskiten mit der MAD Technologie ermöglicht werden.

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Komplexe Oxide weisen interessante, funktionelle Eigenschaften wie Ferroelektrizität, magnetische Ordnung, hohe Spinpolarisation der Ladungsträger, Multiferroizität und Hochtemperatursupraleitung auf. Diese große Vielfalt sowie die Realisierbarkeit des epitaktischen Wachstums von Heterostrukturen aus verschiedenen oxidischen Komplexverbindungen eröffnen zahlreiche technologische Anwendungsmöglichkeiten für die oxidbasierte Mikroelektronik. Der Schwerpunkt der vorliegenden Arbeit liegt auf der Untersuchung der Charakteristik des Ladungstransportes und insbesondere des Einflusses photogenerierter Ladungsträger auf diesen. Hierzu wurden die zwei vielversprechenden und momentan rege erforschten oxidischen Systeme La0,7Ce0,3MnO3 (LCeMO) und LiNbO3 (LNO) untersucht. Der erste Teil der vorliegenden Arbeit widmet sich der Untersuchung des photoinduzierten Ladungstransports in auf SrTiO3-Substrat gewachsenen LCeMO-Dünnfilmen. LCeMO ist als elektronendotierter Gegenpart zu den wohlbekannten und lochdotierten Manganaten wie La0,7Ca0,3MnO3 von großem Interesse für Anwendungen in der Spintronik so z.B. im spinpolarisierten p-n-übergang. Der Einfluss der Sauerstoffstöchiometrie, der chemischen Phasensegregation der Cer-Dotanden und der photogenerierten Ladungsträger auf die Manganvalenz und damit die Elektronenkonzentration in den LCeMO-Dünnfilmen wurde mittels Röntgenphotoelektronenspektroskopie (XPS) untersucht. Hierbei wurde eine Erhöhung der Elektronenkonzentration durch Reduktion des Sauerstoffgehalts oder durch Beleuchtung mit UV-Licht festgestellt. Messungen der Temperaturabhängigkeit des Widerstands haben einen photoinduzierten Isolator-Metall-übergang in den reduzierten LCeMO-Dünnfilmen gezeigt. Durch Auswertung der magnetfeldbedingten Widerstandsänderungen im beleuchteten und unbeleuchteten Zustand konnte dieser Isolator-Metall-übergang eindeutig auf eine Parallelleitung durch das SrTiO3-Substrat zurückgeführt werden. Der zweite Teil dieser Arbeit befasst sich mit dem Ladungstransport in Einkristallen des uniaxialen Ferroelektrikums LNO. Durch Vergleich der Volumenleitfähigkeit in eindomänigem LNO mit der Leitfähigkeit durch mehrdomänige Kristalle mit zahlreichen geladenen Domänenwänden konnte sowohl im abgedunkelten als auch im beleuchteten Zustand eine im Vergleich zur Volumenleitfähigkeit um mehrere Größenordnungen höhere Domänenwandleitfähigkeit festgestellt werden. Dabei ist die Domänenwandleitfähigkeit unter Beleuchtung mit Photonenenergien größer als der Bandlücke deutlich höher als im abgedunkelten Zustand. / Complex oxides exhibit a variety of functional properties, such as ferroelectricity, magnetic ordering, high spin polarization of the charge carriers, multiferroicity and high-temperature superconductivity. This wide variety of functional properties of complex oxides combined with their structural compatibility facilitates epitaxial growth of oxide heterostructures with tailored functional properties for applications in oxide-based microelectronic devices. The focus of the present thesis lies on the characterization of the photoinduced charge transport in two intriguing complex oxides of current scientific interest, namely the electron doped mixed valence manganite La0,7Ce0,3MnO3 (LCeMO) and the ferroelectric LiNbO3 (LNO). The first part adresses the photoinduced charge transport in thin films of LCeMO grown on SrTiO3 substrates. LCeMO, being the electron doped counterpart to well known hole doped manganites like La0,7Ca0,3MnO3, is of current interest for spintronic applications like spin-polarized p-n-junctions. The influence of the oxygen stoichiometry, the chemical phase separation of cerium and of the photogenerated charge carriers on the manganese valence and hence the electron concentration in the LCeMO films were investigated with X-ray-photoelectron spectroscopy. This measurements revealed an increase in electron doping by reduction of the oxygen content or by illumination with UV-light. Measurements of the temperature dependence of the resistance of the reduced LCeMO films showed a photoinduced insulator-metal transition. Analysis of the magnetoresistive properties of the samples in the illuminated and dark state clearly revealed that this insulator-metal transition is caused by a parallel conduction through the SrTiO3 substrate. The second part of this thesis is dedicated to the charge transport in single crystals of the uniaxial ferroelectric LNO. A comparison of the bulk conductivity of single domain crystals with the conductivity of multidomain crystals with numerous charged domain walls revealed an several orders of magnitude higher domain wall conductivity as compared to the bulk conductivity. Such domain wall conductivity could be observed in the illuminated as well as in the dark state, although the domain wall conductivity was much higher for super-bandgap illumination.

In this work we present a theoretical and computational study of the mechanism of ferroelectricity in multiferroic hexagonal manganite LuMnO3. Some structural and electronic properties are described in both paraelectric (PE) and ferroelectric (FE) phases. As theoretical and computation tool was employed the Full Potential Linear Augmented Plane Wave method, based on Density Functional Theory and embodied in WIEN2k computer code. The crystal structure of both PE and FE phases was optimized using two different types of exchange and correlation potentials. The local density approximation (LDA) and generalized gradient approximation (GGA). The lattice parameters from GGA calculation were obtained in better agreement with experimental than LDA result. Also, were analyzed two different GGA parameterizations: the so-called Perdew - Burke - Ernzerhof (PBE) and Wu - Cohen (WC). Comparing them, the result from GGA-PBE calculation is in better agreement with the experimental. After the structural optimization, the atomic positions were fully relaxed. In this step, was utilized the GGA with the PBE parameterization. The electronic properties were calculated from these optimized and relaxed structures and using the Tran and Blaha modified Becke-Johson potential. From these calculations were obtained an indirect band gap of 0,3 eV and a direct band gap of 1,6 eV in the PE and FE phases, respectively. The valence electronic density maps were obtained along the c axis of the phases PE and FE. It was observed when leave of the PE to the FE phase, the ionic character of Lu-O bonds was changed. By careful analysis of the calculated partial density of states, we showed that the loss of ionicity of the chemical bond is associated with the rehybridization of the 5dz2 - Lu with 2pz - O orbitals. This description corroborates with the model in which the mechanism of ferroelectricity of the hexagonal manganites is related with the rehybridization of the dz2 - Y or - Lu orbitals with 2pz - O s orbitals that are along the crystalline c axis. / No presente trabalho foi realizado um estudo teórico e computacional sobre o mecanismo da ferroeletricidade na manganita hexagonal multiferróica LuMnO3. Foram obtidas algumas das propriedades estruturais e eletrônicas desse composto nas fases paraelétrica (PE) e ferroelétrica (FE). Como ferramenta teórica e computacional foi utilizado o método de cálculo de estrutura eletrônica denominado de Full Potential Linearized Augmented Plane Wave que é baseado na Teoria do Funcional da Densidade e implementado no código computacional WIEN2k. Foi realizada a otimização dos parâmetros de rede usando duas diferentes aproximações para o potencial de troca e correlação. A aproximação da densidade local (LDA) e a do gradiente generalizado (GGA). Os parâmetros de rede obtidos com o cálculo GGA foram mais próximos do experimental do que aqueles obtidos usando a aproximação LDA. Para o cálculo usando a aproximação GGA foram testadas duas formas de parametrização: Perdew - Burke - Ernzerhof (PBE) e Wu - Cohen (WC). Nesse caso, o resultado obtido com a parametrização PBE é a que melhor se compara com o resultado experimental. Após a otimização dos parâmetros de rede, foram relaxadas as posições atômicas. Nessa etapa do cálculo, foi utilizada a aproximação GGA-PBE. Para o cálculo da estrutura eletrônica, foi usado o potencial modificado de troca de Becke-Johnson (mBJ). Com ele foi possível obter um band gap indireto de 0,3 eV na fase PE e um band gap direto de 1,6 eV na fase FE. Foram obtidos mapas de densidade eletrônica valência ao longo do eixo c cristalino das fases PE e FE. Observou-se, saindo da fase PE para a FE, que o caráter iônico da ligação Lu - O foi alterado. A análise da densidade de estados parciais mostrou que a perda da ionicidade da ligação química está associada à rehibridização dos orbitais 5dz2 do Lu com os orbitais 2pz do O. Esta descrição corrobora com o modelo em que o mecanismo da ferroeletricidade das manganitas hexagonais está associado à rehibridização dos orbitais dz2 do átomo R (Lu ou Y) com os orbitais 2pz dos átomos de oxigênio que estão ao longo do eixo cristalino c.

The study of bulk and nanoparticles of perovskite rare earth manganites has been an extensive area of research in the recent past due to their rich and interesting physics and potential applications [1-5]. Manganites have potential applications in the emerging field of spintronics because of their colossal magnetoresistance (CMR) [6] and half-metallic [7] properties. Nano sized materials exhibit enhanced and different electronic and magnetic properties and expected to behave quite differently compared to their bulk counterparts due to quantum confinement effects and high surface/volume ratio. Magnetic nanoparticles in particular have great potential for use in a wide range of applications including magnetic recording media, various sensors, catalysts, magnetic refrigeration, medicine etc. In this thesis we study changes in the magnetic ordering of certain bismuth based manganites Bi1-xAxMnO3 (A = Ca and Sr) using various experimental probes when we reduce their particle size to nano scale. The general formula for doped manganites is R1-xAxMnO3 where R is a trivalent rare-earth ion such as La, Nd, Pr, Sm and A is a divalent alkaline earth ion such as Ca, Sr, Ba, Pb. They became interesting due to their many intriguing properties like CMR (Colossal Magnetoresistance), phase separation, charge ordering (CO), orbital ordering (OO) and many more. These properties depend sensitively on many factors like temperature, magnetic field, pressure and doping concentration x. There is a strong coupling of spin, orbital and lattice to each other in manganites. The complex interplay of all these couplings make them strongly correlated systems. In the parent compound RMnO3 Mn ion is in Mn3+ state while it is present as Mn4+ in the compound AMnO3. The manganites with x = 0 and x = 1 are both antiferromagnetic insulators, magnetism in them being mediated by superexchange through oxygen. On doping with a divalent alkaline earth ion in RMnO3, there is a transition The properties of nanoparticles of manganites show strong surface effects. The magnetic behavior is strongly governed by the free surface spins in nanoparticles. And as the size reduces, there is suppression of charge ordering which can also disappear in very small particles [11]. Antiferromagnetism in bulk gives way to ferromagnetism in nanoparticles [12-14]. In the following we give a chapter wise summary of the results reported in the thesis. Chapter 1: This chapter of the thesis consists of a brief introduction to the physics of manganites. Further we have written a detailed overview of bismuth based manganites, properties of nano manganites and the technique of EPR. There is a section about different line shapes observed in EPR of manganites, their origin and how to fit them to appropriate lineshape function [15]. This chapter also includes a detailed account of experimental methodologies used in thesis which are: EPR spectrometer, SQUID magnetometer, X-ray diffractometer and TEM and the analysis procedure adopted in this work. Chapter 2: This chapter deals with the magnetic and EPR studies of nanoparticles (average diameter ~ 30 nm) of Bi0.25Ca0.75MnO3 (BCMO) and their comparison with the results on bulk BCMO. Bulk Bi0.25Ca0.75MnO3 (BCMOB) shows charge ordering at 230 K followed by a transition to an antiferromagnetic phase at 130 K [16]. The bulk and the nanoparticles (D ~ 30 nm) of Bi0.25Ca0.75MnO3 were prepared by solid-state reaction method and sol-gel method respectively. The two samples were investigated by using XRD, TEM, SQUID and EPR techniques. Our magnetization and EPR results show that the charge ordering disappears in nanoparticles of this composition and there emerges a ferromagnetic phase similarly to the rare earth manganites. The nanoparticles of the rare earth based manganites are found to consist of an antiferromagnetic core and a ferromagnetic shell/surface region [3, 17] and thus are expected to exhibit the ‘exchange bias (EB) effect’ [18-22] resulting in a shift of the magnetic hysteresis loop. Indeed many nanomanganites do show EB effect. However, contrary to this expectation, we find that in BCMON samples the EB effect is absent. Chapter 3: In this chapter, we report the results of temperature dependent magnetization and electron paramagnetic resonance studies on bulk and nanoparticles of electron (x = 0. 6, BCE) and hole (x = 0.4, BCH) doped Bi1-xCaxMnO3 (BCMO) and the effect of the size reduction on the electron-hole asymmetry observed in the bulk sample. Bulk sample of Bi0.4Ca0.6MnO3is a paramagnetic insulator at room temperature with Tco = 330 K and TN ~ 120 K while BiCaMnO3 undergoes a charge ordering transition at TCO = 315 K with TN ~ 150 K [16]. All the four samples were investigated by using XRD, TEM, SQUID and EPR techniques. It is shown that antiferromagnetism and charge order persist in the hole doped nano sample while ferromagnetism has emerged in the electron doped nano sample. Our magnetization and EPR results show that spin glass phase exists in bulk BCE, bulk BCH and nano BCE whereas no sign of either spin glass state or ferromagnetism is seen in nano BCH. We have shown that electron-hole asymmetry in terms of ‘g’ parameter has reduced in the nanoparticles but it has not completely disappeared in contrast with the results on Pr1-xCaxMnO3 [23]. We understand these interesting results in terms of the presence of the highly polarizable 6s2 lone pair electrons on bismuth which is known to cause many interesting departures from the behavior of rare earth manganites. We study the temperature dependence of the linewidth behavior by fitting it to the different models [24¬27] and find that Shengelaya’s model [25, 26] fits well to all the four samples describing the spin dynamics satisfactorily in the present samples. Chapter 4: In this chapter, we present the fabrication, characterization and the results obtained from the magnetization and EPR measurements carried out on bulk and nanoparticles of Bi0.1Ca0.9MnO3. We prepared the nanoparticles of BCMO by standard sol¬gel technique and bulk samples by solid state reaction method. We investigated magnetic ordering by doing temperature dependent magnetic and EPR studies on both the samples and compared the properties with each other. Bulk Bi0.1Ca0.9MnO3 (BCMB) shows mixed phase of antiferromagnetism and ferromagnetism without any charge ordered state. Our results show that the ferromagnetism exists in the bulk BCMO which is present in the nano sample as well but with somewhat weakened strength with the size reduction. The nanoparticles of the rare earth based manganites are found to consist of an antiferromagnetic core and a ferromagnetic shell/surface region and thus are expected to exhibit the more uncompensated spins on the surface which reduce the magnetization in the nanoparticles. We calculated activation energy for the two samples by fitting the intensity behavior to the Arrhenius equation [28]. Activation energy was found to decrease for nano BCMO which indicates the weaker intracluster double-exchange interaction in it. Chapter 5: This chapter deals with the comparative study of the temperature dependent magnetic properties and EPR parameters of nano and bulk samples of Bi0.2Sr0.8MnO3 (BSMO). Nanoparticles and bulk sample of BSMO were prepared by sol-gel technique and solid state reaction method respectively. Bulk BSMO has high antiferromagnetic transition temperature TN ~ 260 K and robust charge ordering (TCO ~ 360 K) [29]. We confirm that the bulk sample shows an antiferromagnetic transition around ~ 260 K and a spin-glass transition ~ 40 K. For nano sample we see a clear ferromagnetic transition at around ~ 120 K. We conclude that mixed magnetic state exists in the bulk sample whereas it is suppressed in the nano sample and strong ferromagnetism is induced instead. Chapter 6: This chapter summarizes the main conclusions of the thesis, also pointing out some future directions for research in the field.

After the prediction of magnetoelectric effect in Cr2O3, in early 1960's, D. Asrov became the first to experimentally verify this phenomenon. After the pioneering work on magnetoelectric materials in 1960's and 1970's, the discovery of large magnetoelectric effect in orthorhombic rare-earth manganite TbMnO3 has revived great interest in magnetoelectric materials, especially during the last decade. Magnetoelectric multiferroics have great potential in applications such as novel memory storage devices and sensors. As a result of extensive theoretical and experimental investigations conducted on rare-earth magnetoelectric manganites, TbMnO3 has become a prototype magnetoelectric multiferroic material. Orthorhombic rare-earth manganites RMnO3 (R = Gd, Tb and Dy) exhibit improper ferroelectricity where the origin of ferroelectricity is purely magnetic in nature. RMnO3 exhibit diverse and complex magnetic interactions and phases. Doped manganites of the type R1-xAxMnO3 (A = Ca, Sr and Ba) present a rich magnetic and electronic phase diagram. The doping concentration, average ion-size and size mismatch (i.e. disor-der) at A-site, all contribute to determine the ground state. A variety of magnetic phases, competing with each other, are responsible for many functional properties like magnetoelectric effect, colossal magnetoresistance (CMR), magnetostriction and magnetocaloric effect (MCE). In this context, studies of magnetoelectric materials are of great relevance from technical as well as fundamental aspects. Notably, complexity of electronic (and magnetic) phases and experimental difficulties in acquiring reliable measurement-data easily are the most concerning issues in establishing a clear understanding of magnetoelectric materials. In the magnetic phase diagram of RMnO3, GdMnO3 lies on the border between A-type antiferromagnetic and cycloidal antiferromagnetic ground states. Cycloidal spin arrangement is responsible for the induction of ferroelectricity in these materials. There are disparate opinions about the ground state of GdMnO3 (whether the ground state is ferroelectric or not). Understanding of the influence of rare-earth magnetic sublattice on magnetism in GdMnO3 (at low temperature) lacks clarity till date. Neutron scattering studies on GdMnO3 due to high absorption cross-section of Gd ion, yield little success in determining the nature of complex magnetic phases in this material. Interestingly, an earlier report on strontium-substituted gadolinium manganite Gd0.5Sr0.5MnO3 demonstrated the spontaneous electric polarization and related magnetoelectric effect. It was hypothesized that the observed ferroelectricity could be improper and electronic in nature. Strontium doping facilitates quenched disorder that leads to interesting magnetic phases and phase transitions. In order to understand the physical properties of gadolinium manganites and to unravel the relationship between them, it is essential to investigate high quality single crystals of these materials. This thesis deals with growth and investigation of several important physical phenomena of gadolinium manganites such as magnetic, electric, magnetoelectric and magnetocaloric properties. The thesis is organized in seven chapters. A brief summary of each chapter follows: Chapter:1 This chapter provides general introduction to magnetoelectric effect and multiferroicity. The term multiferroicity refers to simultaneous existence of magnetic and electric ordering in a single phase material. Magnetoelectric multiferroics have shown great potential for several applications. They exhibit cross coupling between the electronic and magnetic order parameters, hence basics of various magnetic interactions (and magnetism) are brie y discussed in the rst section of the chapter. It is followed by a brief discussion about the principle of magnetoelectric effect. Magnetoelctric coupling is broadly classified into two types namely, direct coupling and indirect coupling. In the former, the emphasis is given on linear magnetoelectric effect. The concept of multiferroicity is introduced in the next section followed by a brief overview and application potential of multiferroics. Further, classi cation scheme of multiferroic materials is discussed. The concept of improper ferroelectricity and description of subcategories namely, magnetic ferroelectric, geometric ferroelectric and electronic ferroelectric are documented. Magnetic ferroelectric category is considered the most relevant; featuring the type of ferroelectric material as GdMnO3 referred in this thesis. The microscopic theory for mechanism of ferroelectricity in spiral antiferromagnets is presented. While brie ng the thermodynamic background of the magnetocaloric effect, indirect estimation of two important characteristics namely, isothermal magnetic entropy change (∆SM ) and adiabatic change in temperature (∆Tad) under the application of magnetic field are dealt with. In the last part of the chapter, motivation and scope of the thesis is discussed. Chapter:2 This chapter outlines various experimental methodologies adopted in this work. It describes the basic principles of various experimental techniques and related experimental apparatuses used. The chapter starts with the synthesis tech-niques used in the preparation of different compounds studied. The principle of oat-zone method, employed for single-crystal growth, is described. Orientation of single crystals was determined using a home-built back- reflection Laue set up. The basics of Laue reflection and indexing procedure for recorded Laue photographs are described. Various physical properties (electric, magnetic, thermal, magnetoelectric and magnetocaloric properties) were studied using commercial as well as home-built experimental apparatuses. Design and working principle of all the experimental tools are outlined in this chapter. Fabrication details, interfacing of measurement instruments and calibration (standardization) of equipment used in this work are described in appropriate sections. Chapter:3 Chapter-3 describes the investigation of various physical properties of high quality single crystals of magnetoelectric multiferroics, GdMnO3. Synthesis of GdMnO3 is carried out using solid state synthesis route. Single phase nature of the material is confirmed by X-ray powder diffraction technique. Single crystals of GdMnO3 are grown in argon ambience using oat-zone method. As grown crystals are oriented with the help of back-reflection Laue method. GdMnO3 exhibits incommensurate collinear antiferromagnetic phase below 42 K and transforms to canted A-type antiferromagnetic phase below 23 K. Magnetic and specific heat studies have revealed very sharp features near the magnetic transitions which also confirm the high quality of the single crystal. dc magnetization studies illustrate the anisotropic behavior in canted A-type antiferromagnetic phase and clarifies the influence of rare-earth magnetic sub-lattice on overall magnetism (at low temperature). Application of magnetic field (above 10 kOe) along `b' axis helps formation of the cycloidal antiferromagnetic phase. Here, spontaneous electric polarization is induced along `a' axis. The temperature variation plot of dielectric constant, ϵa (under ap- plied magnetic field along `b' axis) shows sharp anomalies in the vicinity of magnetic ordering transitions suggesting magnetodielectric effects. Magnetic field tuning of electric polarization establish the magnetoelectric nature of GdMnO3. Magnetocaloric properties of single crystals of GdMnO3 are investigated using magnetic and magnetothermal measurements. The magnitude of the giant magnetocaloric effect observed is compared with that of other rare-earth manganite multiferroics. Magnetocaloric studies shed light on magnetic ordering of rare-earth ion Gd3+. The phenomenon of inverse magnetocaloric effect observed at low temperature and under low fields is possibly linked to the ordering of Gd3+ spins. Complex interactions between the 3d and 4f magnetic sublattices are believed to influence magnetocaloric properties. Chapter:4 The details of synthesis and single crystal growth of Gd0.5Sr0.5MnO3 using oat-zone method are presented in Chapter 4. Single phase nature of the material is veri ed by carrying out powder x-ray diffraction analysis and confirmation of single crystallinity and orientation through back-reflection Laue method. Electric transport studies reveal semiconductor-like nature of Gd0.5Sr0.5MnO3 until the lowest temperature achieved. This is due to charge localization process which occurs concurrently with decrease in temperature. Gd0.5Sr0.5MnO3 exhibits charge-ordered insulator (COI) phase below 90 K (ac-cording to an earlier report). It is found that under application of magnetic field above a critical value, charge ordering melts and the phase transforms to ferromagnetic metallic (FMM) phase. This transformation is first-order in nature with associated CMR (109%). The first-order phase transition (FOPT) occurs between competing COI and FMM phases and manifests as hysteresis across the FOPT. Strontium doping at A-site induces a large size mismatch at A-site resulting in high quenched disorder in Gd0.5Sr0.5MnO3. The disorder plays a significant role in CMR as well as glass-like dynamics within the low-temperature magnetic phase. ac susceptibility studies and dynamic scaling analysis reveal very slow dynamics inside the low-temperature magnetic phase (below 32 K). According to an earlier report, spontaneous electric polarization and magnetoelectric effect were pronounced near FOPT (at 4.5 K and 100 kOe) between COI and FMM phases. It is prudent to investigate FOPT across COI and FMM phases in Gd0.5Sr0.5MnO3 to understand complex magnetic phases present. Thermodynamic limits of the FOPT (in magnetic field - temperature (H-T) plane), such as supercooling and superheating, are experimentally determined from magnetization and magnetotransport measurements. Interestingly, thermomagnetic anomalies such as open hysteresis loops are observed while traversing the FOPT isothermally or isomagnetically in the H-T plane. These anomalies point towards incomplete phase transformation while crossing the FOPT. Phenomenological model of kinetic arrest is invoked to understand these anomalies. The model put for-ward the idea that while cooling across the FOPT, extraction of specific heat is easier than that of latent heat. In other words, phase transformation across FOPT is thermodynamically allowed but kinetics becomes very slow and phase transformation does not occur at the conventional experimental time scale. Magnetization relaxation measurements (at 89 kOe) with field-cooled magnetization protocol reveal that the relaxation time constant rst decreases with temperature and later, increases non-monotonically below 30 K. This qualita-tive behavior indicates glass-like arrest of the FOPT. Further, thermal cycling studies of zero field-cooled (ZFC) and eld-cooled (FC) magnetization indicate that a low temperature phase prepared with ZFC and FC protocols (at 89 kOe) is not at equilibrium. This confirms the kinetic arrest of FOPT and formation of magnetic phase similar to glass. Chapter:5 Chapter-5 deals with the investigation of the effect of an electric field on charge ordered phase in Gd0.5Sr0.5MnO3 single crystals. As discussed in the previous chapter, application of magnetic field above a critical value collapses the charge ordered phase which transforms to FMM phase. In this view, it is interesting to investigate effect of electric field on the charge ordering. There are various reports on doped manganites such as Pr1-xCaxMnO3 (x = 0:3 to 0:4) that claim melting of charge ordering under application of electric field (or current) above a critical value. In this thesis work, current - voltage (I - V) characteristics of Gd0.5Sr0.5MnO3 are studied at various constant temperatures. Preliminary measurements show that the I-V characteristics are highly non-linear and are accompanied by the onset of negative differential resistance (NDR) above a critical current value. However, we suspect a major contribution of Joule heating in realization of the NDR. Continual I - V loop measurements for five loops revealed thermal drag and that the onset of NDR shifts systematically towards high current values until it disappeared in the current window. Two strategies were employed to investigate the role of Joule heating in realization of NDR: 1) monitoring the sample surface temperature during electric transport measurement and 2) reducing of the Joule heating in a controlled manner by using pulsed current I - V measuremenets. By tuning the duty cycle of the current pulses (or in other words, by controlling the Joule heating in the sample), it was feasible to shift the onset of NDR to any desired value of the current. At low magnitude of the duty cycle in the current range upto 40 mA, the NDR phenomenon did not occur. These experiments concluded that the NDR in Gd0.5Sr0.5MnO3 is a consequence of the Joule heating. Chapter:6 `Chapter-6 deals with the thermal and magnetocaloric properties of Gd0.5Sr0.5MnO3 oriented single crystals. Magnetocaloric properties of Gd0.5Sr0.5MnO3 have been studied using magnetic and magnetothermal measurements. Tempera-ture variation of ∆SM is estimated for magnetic field change of 0 - 70 kOe. The eld 70 kOe is well below the critical magnetic eld required for FOPT between COI and FMM phases. Magnetzation - field (M-H) loop shows minimal hysteresis for measurements up to 70 kOe. The minimal hysteresis behavior al-lows one to make fairly accurate estimation of magnetocaloric properties. ∆Tad was separately estimated from specific heat measurements at different magnetic fields. Specific heat studies show the presence of Schottky-like anomaly at low temperature. Chapter:7 Finally, Chapter-7 summarizes various experimental results, analyses and conclusions. A broad outlook of the work in general with future scope of research in this area are outlined in this chapter.

This thesis presents the results of investigations of the synthesis, structure and physical properties of multiferroic materials. Multiferroics are materials in which two or all three of ferroelectricity, ferromagnetism and ferroelasticity occur in the same phase. Such materials have the potential applications of their parent materials, as well as new ones because of the interaction between the order parameters. The thesis is organized into four sections. Section 1 gives an overview of multiferroics, explaining the origin of mul-tiferroicity , occurrence of magnetoelectric coupling, their possible technological ap-plications and the challenges involved. Section 2 gives the scope of the investigations. The specific objectives of the present research on yttrium chromite, heavy rare earth chromites, solid solutions of yttrium chromite, rare earth manganites doped with alkaline earth metals, charge-ordered rare earth ferrites and indium manganite are outlined. Experimental aspects of the work carried out are discussed in section 3. It gives details of the experimental set up and the basic operation principles of various structural and physical characterizations of the materials prepared. In section 4, results of the investigations are discussed. Magnetic and di-electric properties of yttrium chromite (YCrO3), heavy rare earth chromites and YCr1-xMnxO3 are reported in section 4.1. These materials show canted antiferro-magnetic behavior below the Nel transition temperatures and dielectric transitions at high temperatures. Role of local non-centrosymmetry is discussed based on high-resolution neutron powder diffraction data. In 4.2 we discuss the results of charge-ordered rare earth ferrites which show good magnetoelectric effect. Magnetic, dielectric and magneto-dielectric properties of YCr1-xMnxO3 (Ln = rare earth) are discussed in 4.3. These materials show magneto-dielectric effect. In 4.4 we discuss the near normal incidence far infrared reflectivity spectra of a single crystal of TbMnO3, in the spectral range of 50cm−1 to 700 cm−1 from 10 K to 300 K. Finally in 4.5, magnetic and dielectric properties of bulk and thin films of indium manganite are discussed.