Transverse spin relaxation and magnetic correlation in Pr_(1-x)Ca_(x)MnO₃ : influence of particle size variation and chemical doping

The short ranged magnetic correlations and dynamics of hole doped $Pr_{1-x}Ca_{x}MnO_{3}$ (0.33 < x < 0.5) of different crystallite sizes have been investigated using electron spin resonance spectroscopy (ESR). The major contribution to the temperature dependence of paramagnetic line-width is attributed to the spin-lattice relaxation dominated by thermally activated hopping of small polarons with typical activation energy of 20-50 meV. Irrespective of the crystallite size and dopant concentration, the transverse spin relaxation time ($t_{2}$) follows a universal scaling behaviour of the type $t_{2}$~($T/T_{0})^n$ in the paramagnetic regime, where $T_0$ and n are scaling parameters. Using the temperature dependence of $t_{2}$, we construct a phase diagram which shows that near half-doping, the magnetic correlations associated with charge ordering not just survives even down to the crystallite size of 22 nm, but is actually enhanced. We conclude that the eventual suppression of charge ordering with reduction in particle size is possibly more to do with greater influence of chemical disorder than any intrinsic effect.