SYNTHESIS OF DOPED RARE-EARTH MANGANATE PEROVSKITE CRYSTALS USING FUSED SALT ELECTROLYSIS

A facile method for the synthesis of doped lanthanum manganate crystal s, suitable for the measurement of electrical and magnetic properties, is presented, Mixtures of sodium molybdate and molybdenum(VI) oxide a re used as a solvent to which La2O3, MnCO3, and SrMoCO4 are added as s olutes which are then electrolyzed at 800-1040 degrees C for varying l engths of time with Pt electrodes, Well-formed cubic crystals, with ed ge dimensions up to 1.5 mm, form at the anode. Magnetization measureme nts show a transition to the ferromagnetic state in the temperature ra nge similar to 250-320 K, depending on the amount of aliovalent doping at the La sites, An insulator-to-metal transition is also observed in the vicinity of the ferromagnetic ordering temperature, (C) 1997 Acad emic Press.