Powder X-ray diffraction data for the crystal structure, phase composition, and molar specific heat for La 1 -x Gd x CoO 3 cobaltites in the temperature range of 300-1000 K have been analyzed. The behavior of the volume thermal expansion coefficient in cobaltites with isovalent doping in the temperature range of 100-1000 K is studied. It is found that the β(T) curve exhibits two peaks at some doping levels. The rate of the change in the occupation number for the high-spin state of cobalt ions is calculated for the compounds under study taking into account the spin-orbit interaction. With the Birch-Murnaghan equation of state, it is demonstrated that the low-temperature peak in the thermal expansion shifts with the growth of the pressure toward higher temperatures and at pressure P ~ 7 GPa coincides with the second peak. The similarity in the behavior of the thermal expansion coefficient in the La 1 -x Gd x CoO 3 compounds with the isovalent substitution and the undoped LnCoO 3 compound (Ln is a lanthanide) is considered. For the whole series of rare earth cobalt oxides, the nature of two specific features in the temperature dependence of the specific heat and thermal expansion is revealed and their relation to the occupation number for the high-spin state of cobalt ions and to the insulator-metal transition is established.
DOI: 10.1134/S0021364016090058The promising applications of rare earth cobaltites having the general formula Ln 1 -x M x CoO 3 (Ln is a lanthanide and M is a rare earth or alkaline earth metal) in different technological processes and devices [1][2][3], as well as their usage as model materials in the analysis of different physical characteristics, have supported a vivid interest in their studies for more than a half century [4][5][6]. A characteristic feature of cobaltites is the manifestation of multiplicity fluctuations [7] in Co 3+ resulting in the anomalies in their magnetic, electrical, and structural characteristics. Different spin states of cobalt ions are due to the interplay between the interatomic exchange interaction and the crystal field, which depend on external conditions such as temperature and pressure. As a result, cobalt ions can be in the low-spin (LS, S = 0, ), intermediate-spin (IS, S = 1, ), and high-spin (HS, S = 2, ) states. The chemical pressure arising at the partial isovalent or complete substitution of one lanthanide for another in LnCoO 3 compounds can also play the role of external pressure. Such pressure can lead to either the stabilization or destabilization of the lowspin ground state in Co 3+ ions depending on the ionic radius of the substituting chemical element. The thermal expansion coefficients of rare earth cobaltites have an unusual temperature dependence [8][9][10] and can be anomalously large. The additional degrees of freedom related to the multiplicity fluctuations affect also the transport characteristics such as electrical and thermal conductivities and lead to unusually high thermoelectric coefficients of cobaltites [11]. Therefore, the studies o...