Competition between the crystal field and the exchange field in Er3+ doped NdMnO3

Abstract

A careful investigation of specific heat shows that the ground state splitting of Nd3+ has been modified by the Er3+ doping, as it shows a nonlinear dependence on the Er3+ doping rate, due to the competition between the crystal field and the exchange field. This competition could be further confirmed by the anomalies in the magnetic entropy and the ground state splitting found in Nd0.9Er0.1MnO3. On the contrary, the ground state splitting of Er3+ has a linear dependence on the doping rate, indicating its stronger dependence on the crystal field rather than the exchange field.