Magnetic properties of perovskites Pr$_{0.9}$Sr$_{0.1}$Mn$_{0.9}^{3+}$Mn$_{0.1}^{4+}$O$_{3}$: Monte Carlo simulations and experiments

Abstract: This work presents the remarkable experimental magnetocaloric properties of the perovskites Pr${0.9}$Sr${0.1}$Mn${0.9}^{3+}$Mn${0.1}^{4+}$O$_{3}$, including the magnetic entropy change $|\Delta S_m|$ and the Relative Cooling Power (RCP). To understand these striking properties, we elaborate in this paper a model and use Monte Carlo (MC) simulations to study it for comparison. For the model, we take into account nearest-neighbor (NN) interactions between magnetic ions Mn$^{3+}$($S=2$) and Mn$^{4+}$($S=3/2$) and the interactions between these Mn ions with the magnetic Pr ions. The crystal is a body-centered tetragonal lattice where the corner sites are occupied by Mn ions and the center sites by Pr and Sr ions in their respective concentrations given in the compound formula. We use an Ising-like spin model. We show that pairwise interactions between ions cannot reproduce the large plateau of the magnetization experimentally observed below the phase-transition temperature. By introducing for the first time a many-spin interaction between Mn ions, we obtain an excellent agreement with experiments. Fitting the experimental Curie temperature $T_C$ with the MC transition temperature, we estimate the value of the effective exchange interaction in the system. From this value, we estimate various exchange interactions between ions: the dominant one is that between Mn$^{3+}$ and Mn$^{4+}$ which is at the origin of the ferromagnetic ordering below $T_C$. We also studied the applied-field effect on the magnetization in the region below and above $T_C$. The obtained MC results for $|\Delta S_m|$ are in agreement with experiments performed for applied fields from 1 to 5 Tesla. MC results of RCP are also shown and compared to experimental ones.