Structural phase transition in substituted La2CuO4 and Pr2CuO4−y

The structural phase transition from orthorhombic (T) phase to tetragonal (T′) phase in substituted La2−xRxCuO4 (R = Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu and Gd) and T′ to T-phase in Pr2−xMxCuO4−y (M = Sr, Ca) has been studied by X-ray diffraction technique. The T-phase of La2CuO4 is transferred to T′ phase abruptly atx=0.8, 0.4, 0.4, 0.3 and 0.4 respectively for substitution of Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu and Gd for La in La2CuO4 without evidence of the T* phase. The T′ structure of Pr2CuO4 (x = 0.0) gets transformed to the T* structure at 30% Ca doping (x=0.6) and then to the T structure at 50% Ca doping (x=1.0), while for Sr-contentx=0.0, 0.4 and 1.0 it shows T′, T* and T structure respectively.