Multiple Magnetic Transitions and Magnetocaloric Effect in (La,Pr,M)MnO$_{3}$ (M = Ca, Sr, Ba) Mixed Phase Manganites

The manganite compound (La,Pr,Ca)MnO$_{3}$ is a well-studied system that is known to exhibit a complex phase diagram featuring ``strain liquid'' and ``strain glass'' regions in combination with competing ferromagnetic (FM) and charge-ordered antiferromagnetic (CO/AFM) phases. The balance of these phases is sensitive to various perturbations including magnetic and electric field, strain, bandwidth, and A-site cation disorder. The A-site disorder and bandwidth of this compound can be tuned through the replacement of Ca with larger Sr and Ba ions. We report here a systematic study of the influence of cation substitution on the magnetic and magnetocaloric properties of La$_{0.35}$Pr$_{0.275}$M$_{0.375}$MnO$_{3}$ (M = Ca, Sr, Ba). Structural properties, including lattice parameters and Mn--O--Mn bond angles, were determined from X-ray diffraction patterns. DC magnetometry studies reveal multiple magnetic transitions in each sample which are probed by magnetocaloric effect (MCE) and transverse susceptibility (TS) experiments. Increasing the average A-site cationic radius is found to strongly impact the magnetic properties and phase behavior of the system.