A microspectroscopic study of the electronic homogeneity of ordered and disordered Sr 2FeMoO 6

Abstract

Disordered Sr 2FeMoO 6 shows a drastic reduction in saturation magnetization compared to highly ordered samples, moreover magnetization as a function of the temperature for different disordered samples shows qualitatively different behaviours. We investigate the origin of such diversity by performing spatially resolved photoemission spectroscopy on various disordered samples. Our results establish that extensive electronic inhomogeneity, arising most probably from an underlying chemical inhomogeneity in disordered samples, is responsible for the observed magnetic inhomogeneity. It is further pointed out that these inhomogeneities are connected with composition fluctuations of the type Sr 2Fe 1-xMo 1-xO 6 with Fe-rich (x > 0) and Mo-rich (x < 0) regions. © Indian Academy of Sciences.