Influence of vacancy co-doping on the physical features of NdFeO3 nanostructure perovskites

Orthoferrite nanoparticles of the chemical formula Nd1-xxFe1-yyO3, (0.0 <= y, x <= 0.03, step 0.01) were successfully synthesized using citrate combustion method. The samples possess single-phase orthorhombic structure with space group Pbnm. High-resolution transmission electron microscope and selected area electron diffraction were carried out and confirmed that the samples were formed in nanoscale. The molar magnetic susceptibility (chi(M)) indicated the antiferromagnetic behavior of the samples. The magnetic properties of the samples were enhanced by increasing the vacancy concentration in the samples. Both the saturation magnetization (M-s) and remanent magnetization (M-r) of the sample Nd0.970.03Fe0.970.03O3 were increased by 1.5 times than the parent sample NdFeO3. The small polaron tunneling and the correlated barrier hopping models were used for the interpretation of the conduction mechanism.