  The magnetic properties of electron-doped manganite La0.3Ca0.7MnO3 and
La0.3Ca0.7Mn0.8Cr0.2O3 polycrystalline samples prepared by sol-gel technique
have been investigated between 5 and 300 K in magnetic fields ranging from 0 to
5 T. The transition at 260 K, attributed to charge ordering in La0.3Ca0.7MnO3,
is completely suppressed in the Cr-substituted sample while the onset of a
magnetic remanence followed by the appearance of a magnetic irreversibility at
lower temperatures is observed in both samples. These features indicate that
ferromagnetic clusters coexist with either an antiferromagnetic phase for
La0.3Ca0.7MnO3 or a spin-cluster glass phase for La0.3Ca0.7Mn0.8Cr0.2O3 at the
lowest temperatures. The exponential temperature dependence of the resistivity
for the Cr-substituted sample is consistent with the small polaron hopping
model for 120 K < T < 300 K, while the data are better described by Mott's
hopping mechanism for T < 120 K. Whereas the parent compound La0.3Ca0.7MnO3 is
known to show no magnetoresistance, a large negative magnetoresistance is
observed in the La0.3Ca0.7Mn0.8Cr0.2O3 sample below 120 K. The appearance of
the CMR is attributed to spin dependent hopping between spin clusters and/or
between ferromagnetic domains.
