Magnetic and magnetocaloric properties of Ba and Ti co-doped SrRuO3

Temperature evolution of magnetic properties in Ba and Ti doped SrRuO3 has been investigated to observe the effects of larger ionic radius Ba at Sr site and isovalent nonmagnetic impurity Ti at Ru site. Ionic radius mismatch and different electronic configuration in comparison with Ru modify Sr(Ba)-O and Ru(Ti)-O bond lengths and Ru-O-Ru bond angle. The apical and basal Ru-O-Ru bond angles vary significantly with Ti doping. Ferromagnetic Curie temperature decreases from 161K to 149K monotonically with Ba (10%) and Ti (10%) substitutions at Sr and Ru sites. The zero field cooled (ZFC) magnetization reveals a prominent peak which shifts towards lower temperature with application of magnetic field. The substitution of tetravalent Ti with localized 3d(0) orbitals for Ru with more delocalized 4d(4) orbitals leads to a broad peak in ZFC magnetization. A spontaneous ZFC magnetization becomes negative below 160K for all the compositions. The occurrence of both normal and inverse magnetocaloric effects in Ba and Ti co-doped SrRuO3 makes the system more interesting. (C) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.