Giant volume magnetostriction and colossal magnetoresistance at room temperature in La(0.7)Ba(0.3)MnO(3)

Giant volume magnetostriction at room temperature is found for the first time in a La(0.7)Ba(0.3)MnO(3) single crystal, achieving 2.54 × 10(-4) in a magnetic field of 8.2 kOe. An even greater value of the volume magnetostriction, equal to 4 × 10(-4) in the same magnetic field, is observed at the Curie point T(C) = 310 K.Volume magnetostriction and magnetoresistance exhibit similar dependences on temperature and magnetic field in the T(C)-region, that is explained by the presence in this compound of a magnetic two-phase ferromagnetic-antiferromagnetic state due to strong s-d exchange.