Layered Magnetic Manganites

We review the recent progress in the study of layered magnetic manganites La2−2xSr1+2xMn2O7, which have many unique features of charge transport and magnetism inherent to the quasi-two-dimensional electronic structure. The system shows a wide variety of magnetic-field-induced phenomena due to the layered crystal and magnetic structure, such as the highly anisotropic ferromagnetic metallic ground state, the colossal magnetoresistance (CMR) effect, and the tunneling-type magnetoresistance (TMR). The charge transport properties, as well as the magnetic ones, strongly depend on the carrier-doping level and the applied pressure, which reflects the variation of the orbital-dependent occupancy of itinerant eg-like electrons. Although the layered manganite is one of a new class of CMR materials, the study of this system may also reveal some of the key issues for understanding the CMR effect in mixed-valent manganese oxide.