Influence of doping concentrations on the structural, optical, and magnetic properties of Ba-doped LaCoO₃ nanostructure

Abstract In this article we report the structural, morphology, vibrational, optical and magnetic properties of Ba x La1−x CoO3 (x = 0, 0.05, and 0.1) (LBCO) samples. The X-ray diffraction shows that samples are in single rhombohedral phase. The Raman signals of LCO were quite small in comparison to LBCO, which exhibited a Raman peak above 675 cm−1. The band seen with a wavenumber of 484 cm−1 corresponds to the vibrational modes of E g bending and Ba–O stretching. UV–DRS and photoluminescence spectra indicated broad absorption over the ultraviolet, visible, and near-infrared spectrums. Surface morphology and EDAX spectra corroborated the materials homogeneous size distribution and homogenous microstructure, with Ba indicating a more stable structure. XPS was used to study chemical states of LBCO and found Co (2p), La (3d), O (1s), and C (1s) elements in perovskite compounds. A peak beneath 300 eV indicated adventitious carbon on surface materials. XPS survey spectrum elements La, Ba, Co, and O had their own binding energies. The magnetization-field dependency of LBCO at 300 K showed that Ba insertion into the LCO switched it from paramagnetic to weak ferromagnetic. Ba considerably decreased magnetic saturation and coercivity, influencing magneto-crystallites’ anisotropy and coercive field.