Structural and magnetic characterizations of undoped and K-doped NdMnO3 single crystals synthesized by sol–gel route: A comparative study

•Un-doped & K-doped NdMnO3 tiny single crystals are synthesized by sol–gel route.•Pure and K-doped compounds take monoclinic and orthorhombic phases respectively.•In both cases, HRTEM images substantiate the formation of single crystals.•NdMnO3 is anti-ferromagnetic & Nd.85 K.15MnO3 is ferromagnetic at low temperature.•Mn-spin ordering in NdMnO3 and spin glass behavior in K-doped NdMnO3 are noticed.

Stoichiometric undoped and 15% K-doped NdMnO3 perovskite rare earth manganate tiny single crystals are synthesized by sol–gel route within a short duration and at lower sintering temperature. Structural characterizations of NdMnO3 and Nd0.85K0.15MnO3 compounds by the Rietveld structure refinement method revealed that undoped and K-doped NdMnO3 belong to monoclinic and orthorhombic structure respectively. HRTEM images substantiate the formation of tiny single crystals of these compounds. Magnetic studies using SQUID magnetometer reveal that NdMnO3is anti-ferromagnetic with Néel temperature 67.2 K and Nd0.85 K0.15MnO3 is ferromagnetic with Curie temperature 99.6 K. The ac susceptibility measurements depict a Mn-spin ordering below 77 K in NdMnO3 and a spin glass type behavior at low temperature in Nd0.85 K0.15MnO3.

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