Remarkable enhancement of La(1-X)SmXCrO3 nanoperovskite properties: An influence of its doping concentrations

Rare earth orthochromites of type La(1-X)SmXCrO3 ((LSCO) x=0, 0.1, 0.3, 0.5) have been synthesized through solid state reaction. These polycrystalline samples exhibit orthorhombic crystal structure and its corresponding distortion depends on the dopant concentrations. With increasing dopant stoichiometry, the A-O bond length changes resulting in the augmentation of perovskite's physical properties. The occupancy of relatively less ionic radii dopant influences the decrease in crystallite size, blue shift in emission spectrum and intensification of the phonon characteristic vibrations. The finer particles aggregate to form dendritic morphology and become distinct on Sm/La ratio increments as identified from electron micrographs and atomic force microscopy. Ambient temperature magnetization analysis reveals the enhancement of antiferromagnetic nature upon dopant increments. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.