Structural and magnetic properties of La1-xCexFe1-xCrxO3 orthoferrite prepared by co-precipitation method

Nanocrystalline orthoferrites with the composition of La1-xCexFe1-xCrxO3 where (x = 0, 0.1, 0.15 and 0.2) were prepared by co-precipitation method. The structural and magnetic properties of the La1-xCexFe1-xCrxO3 system have been investigated. X-ray diffraction showed the formation of orthorhombic structure with space group Pnma for different compositions. With increasing Ce and Cr content, lattice parameters a and c were found to decrease while b increases, resulting in a decrease of the unit cell volume. The crystallite size was calculated from XRD data and compared with that obtained from TEM micrographs. Vibrating sample magnetometer measurements reveal an enhancement in the coercivity (H-c) with increasing Ce and Cr content and reduction of saturation magnetization (M-s) and remnant magnetization (M-r) up to x = 0.15 and increases with further increases of x. The magnetic susceptibility measurements vs. temperature showed canted-antiferromagnetic (AFM) in which the Neel temperature is increasing with Ce and Cr content. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.