Jiyin Zhao

Size-dependent magnetic properties and Raman spectra of La2NiMnO6 nanoparticles

The structure and magnetic properties of La2NiMnO6 nanoparticles with sizes ranging from about 16 to 66 nm synthesized by a sol-gel method have been investigated. The magnetic measurements reveal that the rates of disordered phases increase as particle size decreases, which can be deduced from the changes of Curie temperature and the occurrence of glasslike behaviors, and the similar saturation magnetization was obtained at 4 K. While the particle size becomes smaller, two broad peaks of Raman spectrum at around 535 and 670 cm−1, which are assigned to antisymmetric stretching mode and symmetric stretching mode, move to higher and lower frequencies than the corresponding modes of the bulk compound, respectively. The two peaks also become broader, while the intensity becomes relatively weaker with the decrease in nanoparticle size. All results support that the trend of Mn4++Ni2+→Mn3++Ni3+ bring locally cooperative Jahn–Teller deformation and charge disproportion, and demonstrate that the nanometer effect is...

Size-dependent exchange bias in half-doped manganite nanoparticles

Magnetic properties of the nanosized half-doped manganite of Sm0.5Ca0.5MnO3 with different particle sizes prepared by a sol-gel method are investigated. Exchange-bias phenomena are observed in the field-cooled magnetic hysteresis loops for these nanoparticles. The values of the exchange field, coercivity, remanence asymmetry, and remanent magnetization are found to depend strongly on the particle size. Particularly, as the particle size decreases, the exchange field shows a nonmonotonic variation with a maximum at ∼120 nm. These magnetic behaviors have been explained in terms of size effects on the charge ordered and antiferromagnetic manganite nanoparticles.

Evidence of short-range magnetic ordering above TC in the double perovskite La2NiMnO6

The magnetic properties of the double perovskite La2NiMnO6 polycrystalline sample have been investigated by magnetometry and electron spin resonance. The magnetization curve shows a paramagnetic-ferromagnetic transition at TC∼280K. However, the electron spin resonance spectra reveal that a pure paramagnetic regime only exists above T*∼390K in which the behaviors of the spectra can be well described by the small polaron hopping model. Between TC and T*, a short-range magnetic ordering appears which maybe derives from the correlation of those magnetic polarons. The possible relationship between those polarons and the observed multifunctions in La2NiMnO6 is briefly discussed.

Engineering electrocatalytic activity in nanosized perovskite cobaltite through surface spin-state transition.

The activity of electrocatalysts exhibits a strongly dependence on their electronic structures. Specifically, for perovskite oxides, Shao-Horn and co-workers have reported a correlation between the oxygen evolution reaction activity and the eg orbital occupation of transition-metal ions, which provides guidelines for the design of highly active catalysts. Here we demonstrate a facile method to engineer the eg filling of perovskite cobaltite LaCoO3 for improving the oxygen evolution reaction activity. By reducing the particle size to ∼80 nm, the eg filling of cobalt ions is successfully increased from unity to near the optimal configuration of 1.2 expected by Shao-Horns principle. Consequently, the activity is significantly enhanced, comparable to those of recently reported cobalt oxides with eg∼1.2 configurations. This enhancement is ascribed to the emergence of spin-state transition from low-spin to high-spin states for cobalt ions at the surface of the nanoparticles, leading to more active sites with increased reactivity.

Near room-temperature magnetoresistance effect in double perovskite La2NiMnO6

Near room-temperature magnetoresistance (MR) effect in ferromagnetic semiconductor La2NiMnO6 has been reported. The magnetic field dependent MR curve exhibits two distinct regions: the low-field MR which shows a rapid increase in an applied field within 200 Oe and the high-field MR which shows a relatively slow increase with the field increasing (more than 200 Oe). Based on the analyses of magnetic and electronic properties, we suggest that the low-field MR comes from the increased electron tunneling probability accompanied by the alignment of ferromagnetic domains under external field and the high-field MR is due to the suppression of scattering from the spin defects arising from the Ni/Mn antisite disorders.

Signature of coexistence of superconductivity and ferromagnetism in two-dimensional NbSe 2 triggered by surface molecular adsorption

Ferromagnetism is usually deemed incompatible with superconductivity. Consequently, the coexistence of superconductivity and ferromagnetism is usually observed only in elegantly designed multi-ingredient structures in which the two competing electronic states originate from separate structural components. Here we report the use of surface molecular adsorption to induce ferromagnetism in two-dimensional superconducting NbSe2, representing the freestanding case of the coexistence of superconductivity and ferromagnetism in one two-dimensional nanomaterial. Surface-structural modulation of the ultrathin superconducting NbSe2 by polar reductive hydrazine molecules triggers a slight elongation of the covalent Nb–Se bond, which weakens the covalent interaction and enhances the ionicity of the tetravalent Nb with unpaired electrons, yielding ferromagnetic ordering. The induced ferromagnetic momentum couples with conduction electrons generating unique correlated effects of intrinsic negative magnetoresistance and the Kondo effect. We anticipate that the surface molecular adsorption will be a powerful tool to regulate spin ordering in the two-dimensional paradigm.

Griffiths phase, spin-phonon coupling, and exchange bias effect in double perovskite Pr2CoMnO6

The ceramic Pr2CoMnO6 of double perovskite structure is prepared by a solid-state reaction and the magnetic properties, phonon behaviors are studied in detail. Two ferromagnetic transitions at TC1 ∼ 172 K and TC2 ∼ 140 K are observed in the temperature-dependent magnetization curves, respectively. Furthermore, a detail analysis on the magnetic susceptibility reveals that a short-range ferromagnetic clustered state exists above TC1, which can be well described as the Griffiths phase with a well-defined Griffiths temperature TG ∼ 210 K. The presence of the B-site antisite defects is considered to contribute to the observed Griffiths singularity. Temperature-dependent Raman scattering experiment reveals an obvious softening of the phonon mode involving stretching vibrations of the (Co/Mn)O6 octahedra in FM temperature regions, indicating a close correlation between magnetism and lattice in Pr2CoMnO6. On the other hand, it is found that the phonon softening extends up to TG, which further confirms the preform...

Size-dependent structure and magnetic properties of DyMnO3 nanoparticles

The structure and magnetic properties of orthorhombic DyMnO3 nanoparticles with different particle sizes are investigated in this paper. With decreasing particle size, all the lattice parameters a, b, and c gradually decrease, whereas the orthorhombic distortion increases. Magnetic measurements reveal that the antiferromagnetic interaction of Mn ions is weakened due to the decrease in Mn-O-Mn bond angle. Above a critical field H*, DyMnO3 undergoes a field-induced metamagnetic transition at 4 K, which is related to the spin reversal of Dy moments. The critical field H* increases monotonically with size reduction, indicating an enhancement of the antiferromagnetic interaction of Dy ions due to the decreased distance between rare earth ions. The magnetization at 4 K and 5 T, i.e., M(4 K, 5 T) shows a non-monotonic variation with particle size d, i.e., M(4 K, 5 T) initially increases with size reduction but decreases again for d < 68 nm. A modified core-shell model, in which the ferromagnetic ordering (Dy mag...

Superconductivity and the disorder effect in Ag and Al double doped MgB2

A series of polycrystalline bulk samples of Mg1−2x(AgAl)xB2 (0.0%⩽x⩽1.0%) has been synthesized by a solid state reaction method. The structure, Raman spectrum, and superconducting properties have been investigated by x-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, and low-temperature resistivity measurements. It is found that the Ag, Al double doping causes the expansion of crystal lattice along the a- and c-axis orientations due to the substitution inducing ionic size variation. A redshift of peak position is observed in Raman spectra, which is ascribed to the crystal cell volume change inducing the variation of the phonon frequency. The superconducting transition temperature (Tc) is degressive with the doping level (x) increase. By the Ag and Al double doping, the hole concentration is kept to be unchanged in MgB2, which eliminates the effects of the charge carrier concentration change and band filling on Tc. It is suggested that the reason of the Tc suppression caused by the double doping is the co-operating re...

Strain effect on the transport properties of epitaxial PrNiO3 thin films grown by polymer-assisted deposition

Epitaxial PrNiO3 (PNO) thin films were grown on single-crystal LaAlO3, (LaAlO3)0.3(SrAlTaO6)0.7, and SrTiO3 substrates, respectively, by the polymer-assisted deposition method. It is found that compared with that of PNO bulk, the c-axis parameter of PNO film increases under compressive strain and decreases under tensile strain. Moreover, under tensile strain, the c-axis first decreases and then increases. All the PNO films exhibit metal–insulator (MI) transition with a thermal hysteresis in the temperature-dependent resistivity. At room temperature, the resistivity of the PNO films shows an increasing trend with the lattice mismatch strain changing from compressive to tensile. The MI transition temperature T MI of the PNO films under both compressive and tensile strains is lower than that of PNO bulk. However, the trend of T MI dependent on the lattice mismatch between the film and the substrate under tensile strain is decreasing. The conduction mechanism fits very well with the Motts variable range hopping (VRH) model in temperatures below 35 K. It is suggested that strain relaxation increases with the strain increasing from compressive to tensile, which results in the increase of oxygen vacancies compensated by more Ni2+ changed from Ni3+ in the film. The competing and joint effects of the bending of the Ni–O–Ni bond angle, the elongation of the Ni–O bond length, and the change of Ni valence dominate the transport properties of the PNO films.