Co-existence of giant magnetoresistance and large magnetocaloric effect near room temperature in nanocrystalline La<inf>0.7</inf>Te<inf>0.3</inf>MnO<inf>3</inf>

Sol-gel prepared nanocrystalline La0.7Te0.3MnO3 has rhombohedral crystal structure (space group R3-C) at room temperature and orders ferromagnetically at ∼280 K (TC). A large magnetic entropy change of ∼12.5 J kg-1 K-1 is obtained near TC for a field change of 50 kOe. This magnetocaloric effect could be explained in terms of Landau theory. The temperature dependence of electrical resistivity shows metal-insulator transition at TC and a giant magnetoresistance of ∼52% in 50 kOe. The co-existence of giant magnetoresistance and large magnetocaloric effect near room temperature makes nanocrystalline La0.7Te0.3MnO3 a promising material for magnetic refrigeration and spintronic device applications. © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.