Investigation of phonon behavior in Pr2NiMnO6 by micro-Raman spectroscopy

The temperature dependence of phonon excitations and the presence of spin-phonon coupling in polycrystalline Pr2NiMnO6 samples were studied using micro-Raman spectroscopy and magnetometry. Magnetic properties show a single ferromagnetic-to-paramagnetic transition at 228 K and a saturation magnetization close to 4.95 mu B/f.u. Three distinct Raman modes at 657, 642, and 511 cm(-1) are observed. The phonon excitations show a clear hardening due to anharmonicity from 300 down to 10 K. Further, the temperature dependence of the 657 cm(-1) mode shows only a small softening. This reflects the presence of a relatively weak spin-phonon coupling in Pr2NiMnO6 contrary to the case for other double perovskites previously studied.