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We report on polarized Raman scattering of single crystals of Nd 1−x Sr x MnO 3 (x = 0.3, 0.5). Raman spectra of Nd 0.7 Sr 0.3 MnO 3 show a significant change through the metal-insulator transition. In the ferromagnetic metallic phase phonon modes grow in intensity and number while the electronic continuum becomes more pronounced. We suggest that these effects are due to the strong competition between the localization and the delocalization of carriers which is the origin of the largest colossal magnetoresistance effect ever reported for the manganites. Raman spectra of Nd 0.5 Sr 0.5 MnO 3 , upon cooling through the charge-ordering temperature T C O = 148 K, exhibit several new lines which undergo a substantial hardening. This hardening is interpreted as a freezing of the Jahn-Teller distortions with a gradual decrease of a fraction of the ferromagnetic phase in the CE-type charge/orbital ordered state.

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A tricritical point is observed in the Nd1−xSrxMnO3 (NSMO) (x=0.3, 0.33, and 0.4) manganites at x=0.33 which separates the first-order transition in NSMO-0.3 and second order transition in NSMO-0.4. The ferromagnetic transition of these compounds is further investigated by measuring magnetocaloric effect (MCE) and by applying a theoretical model based on Landau theory of phase transitions. Results indicate that the contributions to the free energy from the presence of correlated clusters are strongly influencing the MCE by coupling with the order parameter around the Curie temperature.