Thermal stability of the crystallographic structure of nanocrystalline Nd0.7Sr0.3MnO3 manganite with enhanced magnetic properties.

We report the effect of temperature on the crystallographic structure and magnetic properties of ultrasonically prepared nanostructured Nd0.7Sr0.3MnO3 perovskite manganite. The crystal structure of as-synthesized nanoparticles remains unaltered over a wide scanning temperature range. Temperature dependent magnetization measurements demonstrate that the Curie temperature (Tc) of Nd0.7Sr0.3MnO3 nanoparticles is in the range of 211 K–220 K under largely varying applied magnetic fields. Below Tc, the soft ferromagnetic nature of these nanoparticles is confirmed by the field-dependent magnetization measurements. The absence of the charge-ordered state is also revealed in this nanomanganite down to 20 K, which is strikingly different from analogous Nd–Sr based nanocrystals. The experimentally observed effective paramagnetic moment and saturation magnetic moment have matched quite well with the values calculated theoretically. The Tc values up to a temperature of 220 K, nearly perfect ferromagnetically ordered Mn ions below Tc, high saturation magnetization, and magnetic softness of synthesized nanostructured Nd0.7Sr0.3MnO3 manganite can be associated with their good crystallinity as well as the nominal internal and surface disorder effect owing to intermediate particle size (∼75 nm to 150 nm). Our investigation elucidates the promising potential of nanocrystalline Nd0.7Sr0.3MnO3 particles for numerous technological applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]