Structural, magnetic, electric and electronic aspects of the Ba2YbSbO6 perovskite material

A single crystallographic phase of the Ba2YbSbO6 perovskite was synthesized by the solid-state reaction method. From the refinement of the XRD pattern it was obtained that this sintered material crystallizes in a rhombohedral complex perovskite, R-3 (#148) space group. SEM images showed the sub-micrometric character of its granular surface. Measurements of susceptibility as a function of temperature evidenced the antiferromagnetic behavior of this material below the Néel temperature TN=118 K and a paramagnetic feature above this critical temperature. The magnetic parameters were obtained from the fitting of susceptibility in the paramagnetic regime with the Curie-Weiss equation. From theoretically calculated Density of States and band structure the semiconductor characteristic of the material was determined and the energy gap was predicted for the up and down spin orientations of the electron gas close to the Fermi level. The energy gap value was experimentally corroborated from diffuse reflectance spectra with the Kubelka-Munk fit of the experimental result. Measurements of dielectric constant as a function of applied frequencies at room temperature reveal a decreasing behavior.