The temperature dependences of the elastic and magnetic properties of polycrystalline perovskite manganite La2/3Ba1/3MnO3 were studied using ultrasonic and SQUID magnetometer techniques. The minimum of the temperature-dependent sound velocity v(T) and corresponding maximum of the decrement δ(T) were found in the vicinity of the structural phase transition R 3 ̄ c ↔ I m m a at Ts ∼ 200 K. Large alterations of v and δ indicate a structural phase transition of the soft mode type. A high sensitivity of dc magnetization to a low uniaxial pressure caused by the softening was found in the Ts region. A negative value of the linear thermal expansion coefficient along one of the crystallographic axis was found in the Imma phase near Ts. The proposed microscopic mechanism explains the appearance of the soft mode in the vicinity of the structural phase transition temperature associated with the displacement of the manganese atom from the center of the oxygen octahedron.
