An experimental and theoretical study of Ni impurity centers in BaSrTiO
arXiv:1708.03016 · doi:10.1134/S106378341708025X
Abstract
The local environment and the charge state of a nickel impurity in cubic BaSrTiO are studied by XAFS spectroscopy. According to the XANES data, the mean Ni charge state is 2.5+. An analysis of the EXAFS spectra and their comparison with the results of first-principle calculations of the defect geometry suggest that Ni ions are in a high-spin state at the sites of the perovskite structure and the difference of the Ni and Ti charges is mainly compensated by distant oxygen vacancies. In addition, a considerable amount of nickel in the sample is in a second phase BaNiO. The measurements of the lattice parameter show a decrease in the unit cell volume upon doping, which can indicate the existence of a small amount of Ni ions at the sites.
8 pages, 3 figures, 3 tables