COEXISTENCE OF LOCALIZED AND ITINERANT CARRIERS NEAR TC IN CALCIUM-DOPED MANGANITES

We explore the possibility that polaronic distortions in the paramagnetic phase of La{sub 0.67}Ca{sub 0.33}MnO{sub 3} manganites persist in the ferromagnetic phase by considering the observed electrical resistivity to arise from coexisting field- and temperature-dependent polaronic and band-electron fractions. We use an effective medium approach to compute the total resistivity of the two-component system, and find that a limit with low percolation threshold explains the data rather well. To test the validity of this model, we apply it to the thermoelectric coefficient. We propose a plausible mean-field model that reproduces the essential features of a microscopic model and provides a comparison with the experimental mixing fraction, as well as the magnetization and magnetic susceptibility. {copyright} {ital 1999} {ital The American Physical Society}