A new oxide CaCr0.5Fe0.5O3 was prepared under high pressure and temperature conditions. It crystallizes in a B-site disordered Pbnm perovskite structure. The charge combination is determined to be Cr^5+/Fe^3+ with t...A new oxide CaCr0.5Fe0.5O3 was prepared under high pressure and temperature conditions. It crystallizes in a B-site disordered Pbnm perovskite structure. The charge combination is determined to be Cr^5+/Fe^3+ with the presence of unusual Cr^5+ state in octahedral coordination, although Cr^4+ and Fe^4+ occur in the related perovskites CaCrO3 and CaFeO3. The randomly distributed Cr^5+ and Fe^3+ spins lead to short-range ferromagnetic coupling, whereas an antiferromagnetic phase transition takes place near 50 K due to the Fe^3+-O-Fe^3+ interaction. In spite of the B-site Cr^5+/Fe^3+ disorder, the compound exhibits electrical insulating behavior. First-principles calculations further demonstrate the formation of CaCr0.5^5+Fe0.5O3 charge combination, and the electron correlation effect of Fe^3+ plays an important role for the insulting ground state. CaCr0.5Fe0.5O3 provides the first Cr^5+ perovskite system with octahedral coordination, opening a new avenue to explore novel transition-metal oxides with exotic charge states.展开更多
基金Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.11574378,51772324,and 61404052)the National Basic Research Program of China(Grant No.2014CB921500)the Chinese Academy of Sciences(Grant Nos.YZ201555,QYZDB-SSW-SLH013,GJHZ1773,and XDB07030300)
文摘A new oxide CaCr0.5Fe0.5O3 was prepared under high pressure and temperature conditions. It crystallizes in a B-site disordered Pbnm perovskite structure. The charge combination is determined to be Cr^5+/Fe^3+ with the presence of unusual Cr^5+ state in octahedral coordination, although Cr^4+ and Fe^4+ occur in the related perovskites CaCrO3 and CaFeO3. The randomly distributed Cr^5+ and Fe^3+ spins lead to short-range ferromagnetic coupling, whereas an antiferromagnetic phase transition takes place near 50 K due to the Fe^3+-O-Fe^3+ interaction. In spite of the B-site Cr^5+/Fe^3+ disorder, the compound exhibits electrical insulating behavior. First-principles calculations further demonstrate the formation of CaCr0.5^5+Fe0.5O3 charge combination, and the electron correlation effect of Fe^3+ plays an important role for the insulting ground state. CaCr0.5Fe0.5O3 provides the first Cr^5+ perovskite system with octahedral coordination, opening a new avenue to explore novel transition-metal oxides with exotic charge states.