Study on the structure, Mossbauer and magnetic properties of polycrystalline Mn-doped SmFeO₃

SmFe1_xMnxO3 (x = 0.0, 0.1, 0.3) polycrystalline powder samples were prepared by sol-gel method, and the obtained samples were all orthorhombic structures with Pbnm space group. M & ouml;ssbauer spectroscopy at room temperature confirmed the +3 oxidation state of iron. All samples were fitted by sextet spectra, indicating that the samples are magnetically ordered at room temperature. The zero-field-cooled and field-cooled curves of SmFe0.9Mn0.1O3 sample show a reverse crossover trend at 5 K, and the magnetization is significantly enhanced after reaching the spin-switching transition temperature (T-ssw similar to 285 K). SmFe0.7Mn0.3O3 sample exhibits a second-order spin-reorientation transition in the temperature range of 236-281 K. Rare-earth Sm ions underwent a spin-ordered transition from a paramagnetic state to an antiferromagnetic state at around 8 K. Due to the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya antisymmetric interaction, the M - H curves of the sample at 5 K and 300 K both exhibit weak ferromagnetism.