High magnetic ordering temperature in the perovskites Sr4-xLaxFe3ReO12 (x=0.0, 1.0, 2.0)

A series of perovskites Sr4-xLaxFe3ReO12 (x=0.0, 1.0, 2.0) has been prepared by wet chemistry methods. The structure analyses by powder X-ray and neutron diffraction and electron microscopy show that these compounds adopt simple perovskite structures without cation ordering over the B sites: tetragonal (I4/mcm) for x=0.0 and 1.0 and orthorhombic (Pbmn) for x=2.0. The oxidation states of the cations in the compound with x=0.0 appear to be Fe3+/4+ and Re7+ and decrease for both with La substitution as evidenced by X-ray absorption spectroscopy. All the compounds are antiferromagnetically ordered above room temperature, as demonstrated by Mossbauer spectroscopy and the magnetic structures, which were determined by powder neutron diffraction. The substitution of Sr by La strongly affects the magnetic properties with an increase of T-N up to similar to 750 K. (C) 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.