Influence of Mn Doping on the Crystal Structure, and Optical and Magnetic Properties of <inline-formula> <tex-math notation='TeX'> <tex> ${\rm SrTiO}_{3}$ </tex> </tex-math></inline-formula> Compounds

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

<P>This paper presents the influence of Mn doping on the structural characterization, and optical and magnetic properties of SrTi<SUB>1-x</SUB>Mn<SUB>x</SUB>O<SUB>3</SUB>(x = 0.0-0.1) materials prepared by a solid-state reaction method. The detailed analyses of X-ray diffraction patterns indicate an incorporation of Mn dopants into Ti sites of the SrTiO<SUB>3</SUB> host lattice. There is a cubic to tetragonal transformation, which takes place at a threshold concentration x ≈ 0.04. The optical absorption spectra show a rapid increase in the absorption coefficient. The bandgap energy (Eg) related to the direct electron transition decreases with increasing Mn concentration: Eg decreases from 3.15 eV for x = 0 to 1.28 eV for x = 0.10. From this point of view, the SrTi<SUB>1-x</SUB>Mn<SUB>x</SUB>O<SUB>3</SUB> materials are considered as promising materials for photocatalytic applications. Interestingly, while the samples with x = 0.0-0.02 are diamagnetic, the others with x = 0.04-0.10 exhibit weak ferromagnetism. The ferromagnetic order increases with increasing Mn concentration. Based on the results of structural and optical analyses, the nature of magnetism in the samples is explained thoroughly.</P>