Neutron powder diffraction investigation on the crystal and magnetic structure of (Ho0.50+xCa0.50-x)(Mn1-xCrx)O3

The crystal and magnetic structure of (Ho0.50+xCa0.50-x)(Mn1-xCrx)O3 (x = 0.00, 0.01, 0.02, 0.03) has been investigated between 5 and 300 K by means of neutron powder diffraction followed by Rietveld refinement and dc magnetic measurements. During cooling an orthorhombic to monoclinic phase transition occurs on account of the charge and orbital ordering taking place in the Mn sub-lattice; at low temperature phase separation takes place and the main monoclinic phase coexists with a secondary orthorhombic phase, whose amount slightly increases with the increase of Cr content. Cr3+ is not involved in orbital ordering or superexchange interactions. The charge and magnetic ordering are decoupled: the Mn moments order according to a CE-type structure in all samples.