Synthesis, structure and magnetic properties of La3Co2SbO9: A double perovskite with competing antiferromagnetic and ferromagnetic interactions

The synthesis, structural characterization, and magnetic properties of La3Co2SbO9 double perovskite are reported. The crystal structure has been refined by X-ray and neutron powder diffraction data in the monoclinic space group P21/n. Co2+ and Sb5+ have the maximum order allowed for the La3Co2SbO9 stoichiometry. Rietveld refinements of powder neutron diffraction data show that at room temperature the cell parameters are a=5.6274(2) Å, b=5.6842(2) Å, c=7.9748(2) Å and β=89.999(3)°. Magnetization measurements indicate the presence of ferromagnetic correlations with TC=55 K attributed to the exchange interactions for non-linear Co2+–O–Sb5+–O–Co2+ paths. The effective magnetic moment obtained experimentally is μexp=4.38 μB (per mol Co2+), between the theoretical one for spin only (3.87 μB) and spin-orbit value (6.63 μB), indicating partially unquenched contribution. The low magnetization value at high magnetic field and low temperature (1 μB/f.u., 5 T and 5 K) and the difference between ZFC and FC magnetization curves (at 5 kOe) indicate that the ferromagnetism do not reach a long range order and that the material has an important magnetic frustration.