[en] La0.7Ca0.3MnO3/Mn3O4 composites can be synthesized in one step by thermal treatment of a spray-dried precursor, instead of mixing pre-synthesized powders. Another advantage of this composite system is that a long sintering step can be used without leading to significant modification of the manganite composition. The percolation threshold is reached at ~ 20 vol% of manganite phase. The 77 K low field magnetoresistance is enhanced to ~ 11 % at 0.15 T when the composition is close to the percolation threshold. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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