Influence of Mn2+ substitution on structural, morphological, electrical, and magnetic properties of Ba0.4Ca0.4Sr0.2MnxTi1-xO3 perovskites

In this research, we have explored the structural, morphological, electrical, and magnetic properties of Mn2+ substituted polycrystalline Ba0.4Ca0.4Sr0.2MnxTi1-xO3 (where x = 0.0, 0.05, 0.10, 0.15, and 0.20) ceramic samples prepared by the standard solid-state reaction system. The x-ray diffraction pattern of the 20% Mn-doped BCSMTO sample has confirmed a cubic to tetragonal structural phase transition. The lattice parameter is found to increase at 15% and 20% Mn concentrations, which is caused due to the inequality in ionic radii of cations. Scanning electron microscope analysis exhibited that, with the increase in Mn contents (x = 0.0-0.15), the average grain size of the samples gets bigger but then significantly decreased at 20% Mn substitution. Dielectric constants for all the samples are higher for lower frequency regions and remain independent at a higher frequency domain. The initial permeability remains almost constant at lower frequencies and then sharply falls at the cut-off frequency, which is in agreement with the Globus model. Among all the studied samples, the 10% Mn-doped ceramic sample shows the highest relative quality factor with significantly demolished loss (tan delta(M)). At room temperature, the M-H loop for the 10% Mn-doped sample demonstrates a domination of diamagnetic nature at a higher magnetic field. The decrement in saturation magnetization with Mn addition suggests that the double-exchange interactions in tetragonal BaTiO3 may have been weakened. The outcome of this analysis emphasizes the impact of Mn as a doping element with 10% concentration in Ba0.4Ca0.4Sr0.2MnxTi1-xO3 that provides enhanced structural and electrical properties, which are associated with homogeneous grain size, reduced porosity, and lower tangent loss.