The effect of an external magnetic field on the magnetic properties of Gd-substituted CaMnO3 prepared by laser floating zone

Abstract

• CaMn 0.9 Gd 0.1 O 3 fibres were obtained by LFZ under an external magnetic field (Hext) • Samples with CaMnO 3 major phase with some secondary phases were obtained. • Hext in grows direction favours phase alignment and magnetic properties. • Results show the viability to apply a Hext to other oxides tuning their properties. The perovskite-type calcium manganite exhibits interesting magnetic properties that can be tuned and enhanced by the laser floating zone (LFZ) method. This work explores, for the first time, the application of an external magnetic field during the LFZ growth of CaMn 0.9 Gd 0.1 O 3 . The effects of the field direction on structural, microstructural, electrical and magnetic properties of the as-grown samples are evidenced, being observed an improvement on grain alignment and the magnetization (31.22 emu/g for 5 T at 5 K), when samples are grown under an external magnetic field in the growth direction, while the magnetic field applied in opposite direction a small improvement is observed. The results prospects to applied this process to other oxide systems for tuning their magnetic properties.