In the family of double perovskites, colossal magnetoresistance (CMR) has been so far observed only in half-metallic ferrimagnets such as the known case Sr2FeMoO6 where it has been assigned to the tunneling MR at grain boundaries due to the half-metallic nature. Here we report a new material−Tl2NiMnO6, a relatively ordered double perovskite stablized by the high pressure and high temperature synthesis−showing CMR in the vicinity of its Curie temperature. We explain the origin of such effect with neutron diffraction experiment and electronic structure calculations that reveal the material is a ferromagnetic insulator. Hence the ordered Tl2NiMnO6 (~70% of Ni 2+ /Mn 4+ cation ordering) represents the first realization of a ferromagnetic insulating double perovskite, showing CMR. The study of the relationship between structure and magnetic properties allows us to clarify the nature of spin glass behaviour in the disordered Tl2NiMnO6 (~31% of cation ordering), which is related to the clustering of antisite defects and associated with the short-range spin correlations. Our results (L. Ding) † alexei.belik@nims.go.jp (A. A. Belik) highlight the key role of the cation ordering in establishing the long range magnetic ground state and lay out new avenues to exploit advanced magnetic materials in double perovskites.
IntroductionPerovskites, a fertile playground for the study of strong interplay between spin, orbital and charge degrees of freedom, can accommodate a large variety of cation species due to their flexible crystal structure, giving rise to diverse and fascinating electronic and magnetic properties [1-7]. In ordered double perovskites, with chemical formula A2BB'O6 (A= rare earth or alkaline, B/B'= transition metal), B and B' cations generally form either rock-salt or layered type superstructure. The former, which leads to alternate stacking of BO6/B'O6 octahedra, is the most common type to minimize the electrostatic energy arising from the different charges of the two cations, and/or the elastic energy due to their different ionic sizes [8-16]. When the radius or the charge of B and B' cations is similar, the probability of antisite (AS) defects (partial occupation of B cations in B' sites and vice versa) increases up to a fully disordered state, effectively tuning the macroscopic properties of the system [11].One of the most intriguing properties of double perovskites is the colossal magnetoresistance (CMR), typically arising from the half-metallic nature of their electronic structures [17][18][19]. For example, half-metallic Sr2FeMoO6 shows a CMR in low magnetic field associated with a ferrimagnetic order above room temperature, providing a promising system for technological applications [17].