Structural transition in Gd doped LaCrO3 isovalent by in-situ ultrasonic measurements

The Gadolinium substituted LaCrO3 isovalent perovskite was investigated in the present study. The samples of La1-xGdxCrO3 (x = 0, 0.025, 0.05, 0.10, 0.15 and 0.20) were prepared employing solid state reaction method. The X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) patterns confirmed that the prepared samples have orthorhombic structure with pnma space group at room temperature. The crystalline size of the samples is 98, 89, 76, 72, 60 and 55 nm respectively for the composition x = 0, 0.025, 0.05, 0.10, 0.15 and 0.20 and the same is decreasing with an increase in substitution of Gd in the samples. The scanning electron microscope images of the samples have spherical like morphology with a particle size of 150, 131, 129, 120, 116 and 94 nm for the composition x = 0, 0.025, 0.05, 0.10, 0.15 and 0.20 respectively. In-situ ultrasonic measurements were made over a wide range of temperature from 300 to 700 K to determine structural transition. The measured temperature dependent ultrasonic parameters are used to explore the structural phase transition from orthorhombic to rhombohedral phase in the prepared sample at high temperatures.