ESR study in lightly doped La_(1-x)Sr_(x)MnO_(3)

This is the first systematic ESR investigation of La_(1-x)Sr_(x)MnO_(3) single crystals for Sr concentrations x < 0.2. The rich phase diagram of this compound, which is dominated by the Jahn-Teller effect of Mn^(3+), is a matter of actual interest in connection with giant magnetoresistance phenomena. The ESR signal, which is due to both Mn^(3+) and Mn^(4+), directely probes the suppression of the Jahn-Teller distortion with increasing Sr concentration and reveals all characteristic structural and magnetic phase transitions.