Synthesis and ESR Study of Transition from Ferromagnetism to Superparamagnetism in La_0.8Sr_0.2MnO₃ Nanomanganite

Electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy was used to determine the magnetic state transitions of nanocrystalline La0.8Sr0.2MnO3 at room temperature, as a function of crystallite size. Ferromagnetic nanoparticles having an average crystallite size ranging from 9 to 57 nm are prepared by adopting the autocombustion method with two-step synthesis process. Significant changes of the ESR spectra parameters, such as the line shape, resonance field (Hr), g-factor, linewidth (∆Hpp), and the low-field microwave absorption (LFMA) signal, are indicative of the change in magnetic domain structures from superparamagnetism to single-domain and multi-domain ferromagnetism by increase in the crystallite size. Samples with crystallite sizes less than 24.5 nm are in a superparamagnetic state. Between 24.5 and 32 nm, they are formed by a single-domain ferromagnetic. The multi-domain state arises for higher sizes. In superparamagnetic region, the value of g-factor is practically constant suggesting that the magnetic core size is invariant with decreasing crystallite size. This contradictory observation with the core-shell model was explained by the phenomenon of phase separation that leads to the formation of a new magnetic state that we called multicore superparamagnetic state.