Influence of Ag doping on electrical and magnetic properties of La0.625(Ca0.315Sr0.06)MnO3 ceramics

Polycrystalline Ag-doped [La0.625(Ca0.315Sr0.06)MnO3]1-x:Agx (LCSMO) ceramics with (x = 0, 0.03, 0.05, 0.10, 0.15, and 0.20) were prepared by sol-gel method, and their structures and properties were characterized. X-ray diffraction results indicated that all bulk samples had single phase with orthorhombic phase (space group of Pbnm) without impurities. With the increase of Ag doping content, the resistivity of the samples decreased, while the remanent magnetization and coercive field increased. The metal to insulator transition temperature (Tp), temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) and Curie temperature (Tc) for x = 0.20 were determined as 300K, 9.38% (292.6K) and 291.86K respectively. The highest MR value of 28.36% (295.03K) was obtained at x = 0.15. XPS data revealed that substitution between A-site ions and Ag+ could increase the ratio of Mn4+ ion. Double exchange effect (DE) enhanced by changing Mn–O bond distance, Mn–O–Mn bond angle, and increasing Mn4+ ion concentration. These features promoted the transfer of itinerant electron between Mn3+ and Mn4+ ions. However, the magnetization obtained at x = 0.20 was less than that at x = 0, as diamagnetic Ag released magnetism of the samples. The results suggested that the LCSMO polycrystalline ceramics could be used as a candidate to prepare room temperature infrared detectors, magnetic sensors or magneto-electric devices, and so on.