Non-adiabatic small polaron hopping in the n=3 Ruddlesden-Popper compound Ca4Mn3O10

Magnetotransport properties of the compound Ca4Mn3O10 are interpreted in terms of activated hopping of small magnetic polarons in the non-adiabatic regime. Polarons are most probably formed around Mn3+ sites created by oxygen sub-stoichiometry. The application of an external field reduces the size of the magnetic contribution to the hopping barrier and thus produces an increase in the conductivity. We argue that the change in the effective activation energy around T-N is due to the crossover to variable range hopping conduction as antiferromagnetic order sets in.