Abstract
We have synthesized a series of the Ruddlesden-Popper nickelate solid solution Ln4-xLn'xNi3O10 (Ln and Ln' = La, Pr and Nd; x = 0, 1, 2 and 3) via the citrate precursor method at different reacting atmospheres. Both the electronic-transport and magnetization measurements on these samples show well-defined phase transitions at temperatures between 135 K and 165 K. These transition temperatures, the room-temperature resistivities, as well as the changes of the Pauli-paramagnetic susceptibilities at the respective phase transitions, strongly correlate with the Goldschmidt tolerance factor t, irrespective of the combination of the magnetic rare-earth ions with unmagnetic La3+. We conclude that these changes of the electronic properties are mostly related to the distortion of the NiO6 octahedra at the phase transition which is strongly correlated with the tolerance factor t, but are rather insensitive to the magnetism of the rare-earth ions Ln3+ and Ln'3+.
Highlights
Due to the strongly correlated d-electrons, some layered transition-metal oxides give rise to various phases with different intriguing electronic and magnetic properties [1,2,3,4]
All samples were characterized by powder x-ray diffraction (XRD) at room temperature [Fig. 1(a)], and the results show sharp peaks without visible impurities
We can expect that the structures of these compounds gradually change with t, which in turn should lead to a certain t dependence of the physical properties in connection with the phase transition
Summary
Due to the strongly correlated d-electrons, some layered transition-metal oxides give rise to various phases with different intriguing electronic and magnetic properties [1,2,3,4]. The transitions between these phases, e.g., metal-insulator transitions [5,6], paramagnetic-ferromagnetic transitions [7], or Mott-insulator-superconductor transitions [8,9,10], are driven by various parameters such as temperature, pressure, electric current, magnetic field, chemical composition, etc. Due to the diverse d-orbital states of the nickel ions, which in turn may lead to a variety of interesting physical phenomena, these RP nickelates have recently gained intensive attention
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