Effects of strain on the electronic structure and magnetic properties in SrMn0.5Fe0.5O3

Abstract

The electronic structure and magnetic properties of SrMn0.5Fe0.5O3 powder and films grown on (100)-SrTiO3 (STO) and (100)-LaAlO3 (LAO) substrates by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) were investigated by temperature dependent magnetization and soft x-ray absorption. The results exhibit characteristics of 3d(5) Fe3+, 3d(5) (L) under bar Fe4+, and 3d(3) + 3d(4) (L) under bar Mn4+ at room temperature in all samples. However, the features of 3d(5) Fe3+ and 3d(3) Mn4+ increased significantly for SMFO/LAO at 35 K, which also displayed substantial competition between antiferromagnetic and ferromagnetic order well-above the Neel temperature of SrFeO3 (T-N similar to 134 K). We attributed this to being caused by charge disproportionation resulting from ligand-hole localization, which is more favorable to take place when the sample is under compressive strain.