Correlation between the exchange bias effect and antisite disorder in Sr2-xLaxCoNbO6 (x=0, 0.2)

Abstract

We unravel the effect of La substitution and hence antisite disorders on the exchange bias (EB) mechanism in Sr2-xLaxCoNbO6 (x=0, 0.2) double-perovskite samples using the detailed analysis of the field cooled magnetization isotherms (M-H) and training effect. The field dependence of the freezing temperature deviates from both Gabay-Toulouse and de Almeida-Thouless lines and the analysis suggests that the x=0 sample follows a different universality class with moderate anisotropy in the frozen spins. Interestingly, we find that the EB effect is significantly suppressed in the x=0.2 sample due to increase [decrease] in the size of ferromagnetic (FM) [cluster glass (CG)] domain, which reduces the effective disordered interface responsible for the EB. The changes in fraction of FM, antiferromagnetic, and CG-like interactions with the La substitution and applied magnetic field are found to be crucial in governing the EB effect in these samples. Furthermore, the training effect measurements show the unequal shift in the left and right branches of the M-H loops and their different evolution with the field cycles (n). The analysis reveals that the rotatable spins relax approximately one order of magnitude faster than the frozen spins at the disordered interface. We find a possible correlation between the observed EB effect and the antisite disorders in these samples.