The effect of an external magnetic field on the magnetic properties of Gd-substituted CaMnO3 prepared by laser floating zone

The perovskite-type calcium manganite exhibits interesting magnetic properties that can be tuned and enhanced by the laser floating zone (LFZ) method. This work explores, for the first time, the application of an external magnetic field during the LFZ growth of CaMn0.9Gd0.1O3. The effects of the field direction on structural, microstructural, electrical and magnetic properties of the as-grown samples are evidenced, being observed an improvement on grain alignment and the magnetization (31.22 emu/g for 5 T at 5 K), when samples are grown under an external magnetic field in the growth direction, while the magnetic field applied in opposite direction a small improvement is observed. The results prospects to applied this process to other oxide systems for tuning their magnetic properties.