A methodical inquiry of the outcome of oxygen plasma exposure in low
bandwidth compounds belonging to the perovskite family Pr1-xSrxMnO3 manganites
where x = 0.5, has been presented in this communication by comparing the
structural and transport properties of the untreated and plasma treated
samples. It is witnessed that the high-temperature transmission is carried out
by small polarons while the low-temperature transmission is attributed to
variable range polarons. The changes in the transport properties may be
attributed to the structural modification due to plasma exposure as revealed by
the Rietveld analysis of the X-ray diffraction pattern. Further, oxygen plasma
exposure boosts the conductivity due to the integration of oxygen ions in the
plasma-exposed samples, thereby rendering them oxygen-rich.Comment: 21 pages, 9 Figures, 3 Table