Abstract
Using a scanning microwave microscope (SMM), we have investigated the phase separation in a
30
%
La
5
∕
8
Sr
3
∕
8
Mn
O
3
(
LSMO
)
+
70
%
Lu
Mn
O
3
(
LMO
)
polycrystalline pressed powder sample, in which the LSMO phase is a perovskite ferromagnetic metal while the LMO phase is a hexagonal ferroelectric insulator. When the electrical properties of the sample were imaged using our SMM, the sample showed a significant contrast between the metallic LSMO and the insulating LMO grains, indicating a clear phase separation between the two phases. The metallic phase identified by the SMM clearly showed a ferromagnetic signal when investigated by a magnetic force microscope (MFM), providing solid evidence that the metallic phase is indeed the ferromagnetic LSMO. In addition, we have noticed a slight difference between the images generated by SMM and MFM, and we believe that this is due to the different depth scales probed by the two microscopy techniques.