Structural Properties and Singular Phase Transitions of Metallic Pr0.50Sr0.50CoO3 Cobaltite

Jessica Padilla-Pantoja, José Luis García-Muñoz*, Bernat Bozzo, Zdeněk Jirák, and Javier Herrero-Martín

The Pr0.50Sr0.50CoO3 perovskite exhibits unique magnetostructural properties among the rest of the ferromagnetic/metallic Ln0.50Sr0.50CoO3 compounds. We have determined and described its structural evolution, which follows the Pm3̅m → R3̅c → Imma → I4/mcm transformations. The Imma → I4/mcm symmetry change is responsible for the second magnetic transition and the reported “two-step magnetic ordering” and has been thoroughly described. The results are confronted with distinct nonconventional properties in another half-doped cobaltite based on praseodymium, Pr0.50Ca0.50CoO3.