Local structural changes in paramagnetic and charge-ordered phases of Sm(0.2)Pr(0.3)Sr(0.5)MnO(3): an EXAFS study

Abstract

Sm(0.5-x)Pr(x)Sr(0.5)MnO(3) exhibits a variety of ground states as x is varied from 0 to 0.5. At an intermediate doping of x = 0.3 a charge-ordered CE-type antiferromagnetic insulating (AFI) ground state is seen. The transition to this ground state is from a paramagnetic-insulating (PMI) phase through a ferromagnetic-metallic phase (FMM). Local structures in PMI and AFI phases of the x = 0.3 sample have been investigated using Pr K-edge and Sm K-edge extended x-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS). It can be seen that the tilting and rotation of the MnO6 octahedra about the b-axis are responsible for the charge-ordered CE-type antiferromagnetic ground state at low temperatures. In addition a shift in the position of the rare-earth ion along the c-axis has to be considered to account for observed distribution of bond distances around the rare-earth ion.