Unique magnetic properties of perovskite manganites La0.95T0.05CrxMn1−xO3 (T = Ca, Sr)

Abstract Powder samples of La 0.95 T 0.05 Cr x Mn 1− x O 3 (T = Ca or Sr, 0.00 ≤  x  ≤ 0.30), two series of ABO 3 perovskite manganites, were synthesized using the sol–gel method. X-ray diffraction analysis showed that all the samples had a single ABO 3 perovskite phase with space group R 3 ‾ c . Unique magnetic properties were obtained for the oxides: (i) the Curie temperature of each series of samples first increased and then decreased with increasing Cr content ( x ); (ii) the average molecular magnetic moment reached the maximum value when x  = 0.08 for the Ca-doped samples, but it monotonically decreased with increasing x for the Sr-doped samples. This behavior was explained using an O 2p itinerant-electron model for magnetic oxides.