Giant radio-frequency magnetoabsorption effect in the cobaltite ceramic La_(0.5)Sr_(0.5)CoO₃

The DC transport properties of and the radio-frequency (RF) wave absorption (at 1.33 MHz) in a ceramic sample of La_{0.5}Sr_{0.5}CoO_{3-\delta} are measured. The Curie temperature, T_{c}, of the sample is about 250 K. A giant negative magnetoabsorption effect is found. In the vicinity of T_{c}, the absolute value of the magnetoabsorption is about 38 % in the rather low magnetic field 2.1 kOe. This differs drastically from the measured DC magnetoresistance (MR) \delta (H) =[R(0)-R(H)]/R(0) which is a mere 0.26 % near T_{c}in the same field and increases to about 2.15 % in H=20 kOe. The phenomenon can be understood taking into account that the magnetoabsorption is determined by influence of magnetic field on the conductivity and the magnetic permeability, while the MR is determined solely by the former. The magnetoabsorption effect can be used to develop RF devices controlled by magnetic field and temperature.