“…34 In contrast to the view EXAFS studies reporting vibrational anomalies at the onset of the magnetic transitions, these anomalies have been widely reported from vibrational spectroscopy, including Raman and infrared techniques. 12,35,36 For instance, Granado et al probed the temperature dependence of the Raman modes around the magnetic ordering temperatures in doped and undoped La 1Àx Mn x O 3 perovskite manganites, showing a well-distinguished softening below T N of the stretching mode of the [MnO 6 ] units. 12 These results were extended for different members of the manganite family, including RMnO 3 (R = Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Y), where the role of the R cation size was established for the phonon softening behaviour: this effect is almost negligible for small R cations.…”