We have investigated the effect of nanometric grain size on magnetic properties of single phase, nanocrystalline, granular La0.7Ca0.3MnO3 (LCMO) sample. We have considered core-shell structure of our LCMO nanoparticles, which can explain its magnetic properties. From the temperature dependence of field cooled (FC) and zero-field cooled (ZFC) dc magnetization (DCM), the magnetic properties could be distinguished into two regimes: a relatively high temperature regime T > 40 K where the broad maximum of ZFC curve (at T = Tmax) is associated with the blocking of core particle moments, whereas the sharp maximum (at T = TS) is related to the freezing of surface (shell) spins. The unusual shape of M (H) loop at T = 1.5 K, temperature dependent feature of coercive field and remanent magnetization give a strong support of surface spin freezing that are occurring at lower temperature regime (T < 40 K) in this LCMO nanoparticles. Additionally, waiting time (tw) dependence of ZFC relaxation measurements at T = 50 K show weak dependence of relaxation rate [S(t)] on tw and dM/dln(t) following a logarithmic variation on time. Both of these features strongly support the high temperature regime to be associated with the blocking of core moments. At T = 20 K, ZFC relaxation measurements indicates the existence of two different types of relaxation processes in the sample with S(t) attaining a maximum at the elapsed time very close to the wait time tw = 1000 sec, which is an unequivocal sign of glassy behavior. This age-dependent effect convincingly establish the surface spin freezing of our LCMO nanoparticles associated with a background of superparamagnetic (SPM) phase of core moments.
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