Synthesis and characterization of Ca-doped LaMnAsO

Abstract

<p>We report on our attempt to hole-dope the antiferromagnetic semiconductor LaMnAsO by substitution of the La3+ site by Ca2+. We use neutron and x-ray diffraction, magnetic susceptibility, and transport techniques to characterize polycrystalline (La1−xCax)MnAsO samples prepared by solid-state reaction and find that the parent compound is highly resistant to substitution with an upper limit x≤0.01. Magnetic susceptibility of the parent and the x=0.002(xnom=0.04) compounds indicate a negligible presence of magnetic impurities (i.e., MnO or MnAs). Rietveld analysis of neutron and x-ray diffraction data shows the preservation of both the tetragonal (P4/nmm) structure upon doping and the antiferromagnetic ordering temperature, TN=355±5 K.</p>