Abstract
A systematic study of nanocrystalline La0.6R0.1Ca0.3Mn0.9Cr0.1O3 (R = La, Eu and Ho) manganites has been undertaken to analyse the effect of sintering temperature and A-site cation radius on the structural and magnetic properties. In order to acquire a series of samples with different particle sizes, the samples were prepared by a solution combustion method and were subjected to annealing at four different temperatures. Rietveld analysis of X-ray diffraction (XRD) data confirmed the presence of orthorhombic symmetry with Pbnm space group for all the samples. The grain size retrieved from the TEM analysis is greater than the noted crystallite size calculated from XRD by the Scherrer’s equation. A paramagnetic-ferromagnetic transition is shown by all our investigated compounds at low temperature. With increasing sintering temperature or particle size, the Curie temperature (Tc) was found to increase, which is attributed to the magnetically disordered surface layer. All the phases obey Curie–Weiss law in the high temperature region and the effective magnetic moment calculated from the high temperature paramagnetic region shows an increase with sintering temperature.
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