Synthesis of Single-Crystalline La₁_-<i>_x</i>Ba<i>_x</i>MnO₃ Nanocubes with Adjustable Doping Levels

Abstract

We report a hydrothermal synthesis of single-crystalline nanocubes composed of lanthanum barium manganite (La 1 - x Ba x MnO 3 ) with three different doping levels ( x = 0.3, 0.5, and 0.6). The synthesis yields clearly faceted nanocubes with a pseudo-cubic perovskite structure. Typical nanocubes have sizes ranging between 50 and 100 nm irrespective of doping level. Magnetic measurements performed on nanocube ensembles show that the magnetic properties depend on the doping level. The ability to synthesize nanoscale manganites of a desired doping level should enable detailed investigations of the size-dependent evolution of magnetism, colossal magnetoresistance, and nanoscale phase separation.