Defect processes in orthorhombic LnBaCo₂O_5.5 double perovskites

Static atomistic simulations based on the Born model were used to investigate intrinsic defect processes in orthorhombic LnBaCo₂O _5.5 (Ln = Y, La, Pr, Nd, Sm, Gd, Dy, Ho, Er, and Yb) double perovskites. It was found that Ln/Ba antisite disorder is the lowest energy defect reaction, with the large Ln cations giving rise to smaller antisite energies. On the oxygen sublattice the oxygen Frenkel disorder dominates and also decreases in energy with increasing Ln cation size. The lowest energy oxygen vacancy and interstitial positions are in the LnO_0.5 and CoO₂ layers respectively. Interestingly, the calculations indicate that oxygen vacancies cluster with Ba antisite defects (occupying Ln sites). This suggests that the transport of oxygen vacancies will be influenced not only by the oxygen Frenkel energy but also the antisite energy. We propose that PrBaCo₂O_5.5 most efficiently balances these two competing effects as it has an oxygen Frenkel energy of just 0.24 eV per defect combined with a high antisite energy (0.94 eV), which ensures that the A cation sublattice will remain more ordered.