Investigation of Structural and Magnetic Properties of Sm Substituted LaYFe2O6

Abstract

La1-xSmxYFe2O6 (x = 0, 0.25, 0.50, and 0.75) are successfully synthesized by the sol-gel auto combustion method. The phase confirmation of the samples is done by the Rietveld refined X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns and magnetic properties are investigated by the Vibrating Sample Magnetometer at the high temperature region. XRD study revealed that pristine (x = 0) sample shows biphasic crystallographic behavior [P21nm (~95%) + Pbnm (~5%)], whereas Samarium (Sm) plays a crucial role in the manifestation of single phase double perovskite structure (P21nm phase only) in the x = 0.25, 0.50, and 0.75 samples. Interestingly, the magnetic parameters show the drastic change by the Sm substitution. The coercivity, remanent magnetization, and maximum magnetization are significantly enhanced from 219 Oe to 7445 Oe, 3.7 memu/g to 254.2 memu/g, and 188 memu/g to 619 memu/g respectively for x = 0 to x = 0.75 sample and thus ferromagnetic order is established here.