Structure and magnetization studies of Nd0.5−xPrxSr0.5MnO3 system

The structural and magnetic properties of Nd0.5−xPrxSr0.5MnO3 (x=0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5) system have been investigated. With the substitution of Pr in Nd0.5Sr0.5MnO3, it shows a gradual structure transformation from the Imma orthorhombic symmetry to the tetragonal I4/mcm phase, and the crystallographic transition remains incomplete, even in Pr0.5Sr0.5MnO3. A large bifurcation between zero-field-cooled (ZFC) and field-cooled (FC) susceptibility has been observed below Curie temperature (TC), which is characteristic of coexistence of ferromagnetism (FM) and antiferromagnetism (AFM) at low temperature region. The magnetization of Pr0.5Sr0.5MnO3 is larger than that of Nd0.5Sr0.5MnO3, while Nd0.5Sr0.5MnO3 with more CE-type AFM shows larger magnetization than Nd0.3Pr0.2Sr0.5MnO3, which mixed with CE-type (majority) and A-type (minority) AFM at low temperature, indicating that the magnetization of Nd0.5−xPrxSr0.5MnO3 system is affected by A-site disorder combined with orbital ordering of A-type AFM and CE-type AFM.