Magnetic hysteresis mechanism in Lu 0.9 Sr 0.1 Cr 0.5 Fe 0.5 O 3 studied by Monte Carlo simulations

Abstract

In this work we report magnetic properties of the orthorhombic perovskiteLu 0.9 Sr 0.1 Cr 0.5 Fe 0.5 O 3 synthesized by a wet chemical method. As in LuCr 0.5 Fe 0.5 O 3 thecompound with Sr shows the magnetization reversal phenomenon, but the magnetic order andthe compensation temperature occur at higher temperatures. Interestingly, in M vs H curves ahysteresis loop is observed when Cr 4 + and Cr 3 + ions coexist as a consequence of the aliovalentsubstitution of Lu 3 + by Sr 2 + in the B sites of the perovskite. To explain this behavior, weperformed numerical simulations with a magnetic model for Lu 1 − x Sr x Cr 0.5 Fe 0.5 O 3 perovskiteswith x = 0 and x = 0.1. We found that the ferromagnetic coupling of Fe 3 + and Cr 4 + throughsuperexchange interactions (according the empiric Goodenough–Kanamori–Anderson rules)increases the magnetization at high fields and that the presence of ferromagnetic clustersexplains the hysteretic behavior found in simulations.