Ferromagnetism at room temperature in Co-doped KNbO3 bulk samples

In this work, polycrystalline KNb1-xCoxO3 (x=0, 0.05 and 0.1) samples were synthesized through standard solid-state reaction, and their structural and magnetic properties were carefully studied. The Xray powder diffraction (XRD) patterns show reflections of a pure orthorhombic structure (space group Bmm2) with lattice parameters being very close to those reported in the literature. The most important point here is that all the samples ended up being single-phase with no affectation by impurities or segregates. The XRD peaks of Co-doped samples are broadened and shifted to the right side as compared to those of the pristine compound (x=0) suggesting effective substitution of Nb by Co ions. The Co-doped samples exhibit ferromagnetic properties at room temperature, which contrasts starkly with the paramagnetic behavior exhibited by the uncloped sample. Interactions between bound magnetic polarons are considered as a possible scenario to explain the appearance of the ferromagnetic signal in the Co-doped samples. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.