Spin reorientation in antiferromagnetic Dy2FeCoO6 double perovskite.

We explored the electronic and magnetic properties of the lanthanide double perovskite Dy2FeCoO6 by combining magnetization, Raman and Mössbauer spectroscopy and neutron diffraction along with density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Our magnetization measurements revealed two magnetic phase transitions in Dy2FeCoO6. First, a paramagnetic to antiferromagnetic transition at T N = 248 K and subsequently, a spin reorientation transition at T SR = 86 K. In addition, a field-induced magnetic phase transition with a critical field of H c ≈ 20 kOe is seen at 2 K. Neutron diffraction data suggested cation-disordered orthorhombic structure for Dy2FeCoO6 in Pnma space group which is supported by Raman scattering results. The magnetic structures ascertained through representational analysis indicate that at T N, a paramagnetic state is transformed to Γ5(Cx, Fy, Az) antiferromagnetic structure while, at T SR, Fe/Co moments undergo a spin reorientation to Γ3(Gx, Ay, Fz). The refined magnetic moment of (Fe/Co) is 1.47(4) µ B at 7 K. The antiferromagnetic structure found experimentally is supported through the DFT calculations which predict an insulating electronic state in Dy2FeCoO6.

Electronic, magnetic, optical and thermoelectric properties of Ca2Cr1-x Ni x OsO6 double perovskites.

With the help of density functional theory calculations, we explored the recently synthesized double perovskite material Ca2CrOsO6 and found it to be a ferrimagnetic insulator with a band gap of ∼0.6 eV. Its effective magnetic moment is found to be ∼0.23 µ B per unit cell. The proposed behavior arises from the cooperative effect of spin-orbit coupling and Coulomb correlation of Cr-3d and Os-5d electrons along with the crystal field. Within the ferrimagnetic configuration, doping with 50% Ni in the Cr-sites resulted in a half-metallic state with a total moment of nearly zero, a characteristic of spintronic materials. Meanwhile, the optical study reveals that both ε 1 xx and ε 1 zz decrease first and then increase rapidly with increasing photon energy up to 1.055 eV. We also found optical anisotropy up to ∼14 eV, where the material becomes almost optically isotropic. This material has a plateau like region in the σ xx and σ zz parts of the optical conductivity due to a strong 3d-5d interband transition between Cr and Os. In addition, we performed thermoelectric calculations whose results predict that the material might not be good as a thermoelectric device due to its small power factor.