Studying magnetic structure of Bi doped Co₂MnO₄ cubic spinel by neutron diffraction

In present work, we studied effect of Bi doped spinel Bi_xCo_2-xMnO₄ (x = 0, 0.05, 0.10, 0.15 and 0.20) samples on their crystal as well as magnetic structure by employing neutron diffraction of wavelength 1.48 A using focusing crystal diffractometer of UGC-DAECSR Mumbai Centre at Dhruva, Trombay, Mumbai, India. The analysis of the neutron diffraction using Fullprof program reveals that crystal structure due to Bi doping remains intact and all the samples have been formed in the cubic spinel structure with Fd3m (space group no. 227). The lattice parameter shows the positive thermal expansion upon Bi doping across the temperature range. In order to understand the implication on the spin structure and magnetism in the detail, temperature dependent neutron diffraction study is carried out on some of the samples (x = 0, 0.1) in the series. The ND pattern of x = 0.1 at 2.9K is shown. The experimental finding in terms of modified magnetic structure upon Bi doping are discussed which are understood in terms of variation in the ferroelectric properties, bond lengths and their effect on the CoO₆ polyhedra. Furthermore, Bi substitution in Co₂MnO₄ spinel brings in the balance of structural distortion, which affects both ferrimagnetism and ferroelectricity