Preparation and properties of single phase PbTi$_{1-x}$Mn$_{x}$O$_{3}$ perovskites at high Mn concentrations.

Recent observation of multiferroic properties in the PbTi$_{0.5}$Fe$_{0.5}$O$_{3}$ perovskite material raises questions about the electronic and structural driving forces causing the coupling between ferroelectric and ferromagnetic properties. It is known that the Jahn-Teller distortion of oxygen octahedra due to d orbital occupancy inhibits formation of the ferroelectric double well potential in ABO$_{3}$ perovskites. Thus, the presence of a ferroelectric distortion in d$^{n}$ magnetic transition metal perovskite oxide is an unexpected result. We report observation of tetragonal structure (XRD) in a similar PbTi$_{1-x}$Mn$_{x}$O$_{3}$ system. The material is prepared using the sol-gel method with various Mn concentrations. In this study, we access a range of concentrations starting from a relatively high value of x=0.1 in order to introduce considerable amount of magnetic sites into the system. Reduction in the tetragonal ratio (c/a) is observed with increase in x as expected. Further characterization of the material involves magnetoelectric measurements and X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy. Preliminary results are discussed.