Analysis of structure and neutron diffraction with study of optical and thermal properties of nanocrystalline Nd0.7Pr0.3Fe1-xCoxO3 (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.6)

Nanocrystalline Nd0.7Pr0.3Fe1-xCoxO3 (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.6) samples are synthesized by the sol–gel auto combustion route. Phase purity and structural properties of the samples are determined using x-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. Rietveld refinement of the XRD patterns confirmed the orthorhombic structure in Pbnm space group. The Bas-Irpes programme in FullProf suit is used for magnetic structural analysis. That revealed the decrease of magnetic moment with Co-doping. FTIR spectra exhibit the presence of metal oxide (M–O) and rare earth iron oxide phases in the structure. The shift of the band at 578 cm−1 towards lower wavenumbers provided information about shrinkage. The particle sizes are found to lie in the nano-range, as estimated by TEM analysis. Raman spectra further confirm the symmetric and anti-symmetric stretching vibrations and phase purity of the samples. The red shift observed in the Raman spectra on doping hinted towards tensile stress in doped samples. Tauc plots are used to estimate the energy bandgap and that fall in the range of 2.45–2.32 eV. Néel temperature of the samples is determined to be in the temperature range of 578–715 K.