Unusual ferromagnetism in nanoparticles of doped oxides and manganites

The observation of unusually large ferromagnetism in the nanoparticles of doped oxides and enhanced ferromagnetic tendencies in manganite nanoparticles have been in focus recently. For the transition metal doped oxide nanoparticles a phenomenological ‘charge transfer ferromagnetism’ model has been recently proposed by Coey et al. From a microscopic calculation with charge transfer between the defect band and mixed valent dopants, acting as reservoir, we show how the unusually high ferromagnetic response develops. The puzzle of nanosize-induced ferromagnetic tendencies in manganites is also addressed within the same framework where lattice imperfections and uncompensated charges at the surface of the nanoparticle are shown to reorganize the surface electronic structures with enhanced double exchange.