The magnetic anisotropy of La 0.7 Sr 0.3 MnO 3 nanopowders was measured as a function of temperature by the modified singular point detection technique. In this method singularities indicating the anisotropy field were determined analyzing ac susceptibility data. The observed relationship between temperature dependence of anisotropy constant and temperature dependence of magnetization was used to deduce the origin of magnetic anisotropy in the nanopowders. It was shown that magnetic anisotropy of La 0.7 Sr 0.3 MnO 3 nanopowder is determined by two-ion (dipolar or pseudodipolar) and single-ion mechanisms.
1.IntroductionManganites of perovskite structure have attracted much attention due to discovery of the colossal magnetoresistance effect ([1], see also review papers [2][3][4]). Among them especially interesting is La 0.7 Sr 0.3 MnO 3 (LSMO) due to its relatively high the Curie temperature (about 370 K) and high value of magnetization at room temperature. These parameters in combination with a high spin polarization of charge carriers make them interesting for practical applications. Recently, we have performed detailed studies of magnetic, resonance and transport properties of La 0.7 Sr 0.3 MnO 3 nanopowders [5]. It has been shown that both the Curie temperature and magnetization decrease with reducing the particle size. The decrease of magnetization and others intrinsic parameters of the nanoparticles have its origin in surface effects. The broken symmetry at the surface is also a source of the surface anisotropy which determines the effective anisotropy of the nanoparticles. The effective magnetic anisotropy essentially controls the hysteretic behavior of ferromagnets and, consequently, determines most of their parameters (e.g. coercivity, permeability, energy of magnetic domain walls) important for practical applications. Therefore, the understanding of magnetic anisotropies in nanoparticles is of crucial importance for the development of various magnetic devices. Although the magnetic anisotropy is one of the fundamental intrinsic properties of magnetic materials according to our best knowledge the magnetic anisotropy characteristics of manganite nanopowders have not been systematically investigated.In the present paper, we report on the magnetic anisotropy of La 0.7 Sr 0.3 MnO 3 nanopowders which are investigated by ac SQUID technique. The paper is a continuation of the studies described in [5]. Since structural and magnetic properties of La 0.7 Sr 0.3 MnO 3 nanopowders were discussed in [5] we limit ourselves only to investigation of their magnetic anisotropy.
Experimental details (Materials and methods)The La 0.7 Sr 0.3 MnO 3 nanopowders were prepared by a simple chemical co-precipitation procedure described earlier [5]. Using this method the nanopowders with the average particle sizes of 17 nm, 27 nm (determined by X-ray diffraction measurements) and 94 nm (determined by electron microscope observations) were obtained for 600, 700 and 900 o С annealing temperatures, respectively. The La 0.7 Sr 0.3 MnO 3...