The crystal structures and electronic transport properties of composites, xLa5/8Ca3/8MnO3 （1-x）ErMnO3 （x=0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.5, 0.6, 0.8, 1）, where ErMnO3 is the insulating ferroelectric and La5/8Ca3/8MnO3 is the metallic ferromagnetic component, were studied. The magnetization of samples （x=0, 0.5, 1） were also measured as a function of temperature from 4 K to 300 K. The X-ray diffraction data show La5/8Ca3/8MnO3 and ErMnO3 are almost complete immiscible, originating from the significant difference in their crystal structures. All the composites show a metal-insulator transition when the molar fraction of xLa5/8Ca3/8MnO3 component x≥0.4 and the electronic transport behaviors follow the classical percolation theory model very well. Magnetization of the mixture with x=0.5 is unique and enhanced greatly compared with that of pure ErMnO3. Comprehensive analysis of the electronic transport and magnetic results suggests that this material system is a new kind of multiferroic with stronger magnetism in a wider temperature range compared with the single phase multiferroic ErMnO3.
The longitudinal ultrasonic velocity （V1）, attenuation （α1）, magnetization and resistivity of single phase polycrystalline La1/3Sr2/3CoO3 were measured as a function of temperature from 20 K to 300 K. The resistivity shows metallic behavior in the whole temperature range and a kink at 235 K was observed, which coincides with the ferromagnetic transition temperature （Tc）. As the temperature cools down from Tc, the V1 softens conspicuously at beginning and reaches a minimum at 120 K. After that the V1 dramatically stiffens below 120 K accompanied by a wide attenuation peak. The analysis of the results suggests that these ultrasonic anomalies ;nay correspond to local lattice distortions via the Jahn-Teller effect of intermediate spin Co^3＋.
