Scientists discovered that Bilayer Manganites (a compound of manganese, lanthanum, and strontium) have an unusually fragile, unstable magnetic state. This finding demonstrates the rich variety of spin couplings in these materials, which may be useful in engineering spintronic devices.
Bilayer Manganites are actually known for exhibiting "colossal magnetoresistance" - a drastic change in electrical resistance in response to a magnetic field - and the new research shows that they also have this new magnetic state.
A few weeks ago we reported about a differnet research showing that Manganites can change its stripes from fluctuating to static and back - which means that the material can switch from a metallic state (a conductor) to an insulator.
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Posted: Aug 31,2011 by Ron Mertens