Site dilution and charge disorder effect on physical properties in SrRu1-x Ga x O3

J Phys Condens Matter. 2020 Jan 16;32(3):035803. doi: 10.1088/1361-648X/ab49a1. Epub 2019 Oct 1.

Abstract

Here, we report an evolution of structural, magnetic and transport behavior in doped SrRu1-x Ga x O3 (x [Formula: see text] 0.2). The nonmagnetic dopant Ga3+ (3d 10) not only acts for magnetic site dilution in SrRuO3 but also modifies the Ru charge state and electronic density. Our studies show that Ga3+ substitution does not affect the original orthorhombic- Pbnm structure of SrRuO3 which is due to its matching ionic radii with Ru4+ . However, Ga3+ has a substantial effect on the magnetic behavior of SrRuO3 where it decreases both magnetic moment as well as magnetic transition temperature [Formula: see text]. Further, this dilution induces Griffiths phase behavior across [Formula: see text] and cluster-glass behavior at low temperature with higher concentration of doping. The magnetic critical exponent [Formula: see text] increases with x due to this site dilution effect. The Ga3+ induces an insulating state in SrRuO3 with x > 0.05. The charge transport in paramagnetic as well as in insulating state of samples can be well described with Mott's modified variable-range-hopping model. The metallic charge transport just below [Formula: see text] in SrRuO3 obeys Fermi liquid behavior which breaks down at low temperature. We further find a correlation between field dependent magnetoresistance and magnetization through power-law behavior over the series.