Control of magnetic properties and band gap by Co/Mn ordering and oxygen distributions of La2CoMnO6

La2CoMnO6 are synthesized at different annealing temperature ranging from 600 °C to 1300 °C, marked as S600, S800, S1000 and S1300. S600 has the R-3c and the rest have the Pnma structure. The DTA curve exhibits two exothermic peaks, at 553 °C for the phase formation and 905 °C for the oxygen redistribution into the lattice. Deduced from xps, S1000 has the highest lattice oxygen. S1300 has one extra xps peak due to the oxygen deficient regions. Even though the xrd refinements are not reliable at telling whether Co/Mn ions are ordered or not, IR-FT, magnetic measurements and energy band gaps indicate that S1000 has the best Co/Mn ordering, and S600 has the worst. A stretching vibration at about 580-595 cm−1 in the IR-FT spectra is attributed to the ordered Co-O-Mn bond. A homogenous atomic distribution in S600, S800 and S1000 leads to one magnetic phase configuration, and the agglomeration of the FM ordered Co/Mn and the AFM disordered regions in S1300 induces the multi magnetic phases. From the aspects of band gap and energy level, S600 is a good candidate for light harvesting.