Evolution of critical behavior and magnetocaloric effect in Eu doped La0.67Ba0.33MnO3 perovskites
摘要
This research investigates the effects of Eu3+ doping on the structural, magnetic, and magnetocaloric properties of La0.67−xEuxBa0.33MnO3 (x = 0, 0.05, 0.10) prepared by the sol–gel method. All samples crystallized in the single phase of rhombohedral R−3c structure. Increased doping induces lattice distortion, lengthening the Mn–O bond and reducing the Mn–O–Mn bond angle, which weakens the double-exchange interaction and thereby reduces the Curie temperature TC and the magnetic entropy change. The composition with x = 0.05 (TC = 312 K) exhibits a maximum magnetic entropy change of 2.18 J kg−1 K−1 under the magnetic field of 2 T, showing superior near room temperature magnetocaloric performance to many other reported manganites. Furthermore, the doping introduces quenched disorder, leading to the formation of Griffiths-like phases. Critical behavior analysis reveals a crossover from mean-field model to non-universal behavior for x = 0.10, which is attributed to local magnetic inhomogeneities and Griffiths-like phases that broaden the magnetic transition and consequently flatten the magnetic entropy change curve.