This book presents some recent advancements in the area of magnetic perovskites and gives an introduction to the physics of complex magnetism (phase separation, spin glass, frustration). It is written from a materials science perspective and is essentially based upon scientific publications from the author. Thus, it only contains the results of a few recently studied compounds and may need to be updated in the future. Nevertheless, it can serve as an introduction to students starting in the field of magnetic perovskites. The book is organized into four chapters.
Chapter 1 briefly introduces the materials. After describing the importance of perovskites and a description of the structure, the author presents the synthesis. It is, however, restricted to single-crystal cobaltites; it is surprising that the author does not even mention thin-film growth techniques despite the huge amount of work in that area, as well as the potential applications in oxide electronics. The chapter ends with a list of key properties reported, corresponding only to those detailed in the book.
Chapter 2 presents results of electronic phase separation and glassy behavior. The first example is manganites, A1–x B x MnO3 (A = La, Pr, Nd, Gd, and Y and B = Ca, Ba, Sr), which exhibit electronic phase separation. An example of glassy behavior in A0.7Ba0.3MnO3 (A = La, Nd, and Gd) is also given. The second example is a cobalt-centered perovskite that displays electronic phase and spin-glass behavior.
Chapter 3 discusses the A-site cationic ordering and disordering effects on magnetotransport properties of cobaltites. This section starts with a clear description of ordered and disordered perovskites. The description of disordered ABO3 perovskites was not necessary, and this content could have been merged with chapter 1 and the introduction of perovskites. The most interesting part is the disordered perovskites, the presentation of various parameters that influence the phase ordering, and the physical properties. Again, this listing is based on a series of particular compositions, and not the key parameters responsible for the disorder, which at the end are difficult to extract clearly.
Chapter 4 is devoted to bismuth-centered perovskites. After a very short introduction to multiferroicity, this chapter lists various complex compounds and their magnetic properties without including the most studied phase, BiFeO3. A brief part is also dedicated to thin films.
This book is best suited to graduate students in solid-state physics or chemistry. Although it does not contain homework problems or exercises, some undergraduate students still might find it interesting, particularly those who have practical exercises in a laboratory. Despite the bias toward the author’s work, it is a passable introduction to magnetic phenomena in perovskites.
Reviewer: Wilfrid Prellier of the Laboratory of Crystallography and Materials Science, ENSICAEN/CNRS/Normandie Université, France.
