Energy Splitting of Eg Orbitals in Fe‐doped Bilayer Manganites

57Fe Mössbauer spectra measurements of Fe‐doped La2–2xSr1+2xMn1.88Fe0.12O7 (x = 0.30, 0.40, and 0.55) compounds were employed to estimate the energy splitting of the Mn3+ ion eg orbital. A large splitting energy ES, about 1.0 eV, was found for each sample. This suggests that there is a strong electron localization effect in these Fe‐doped bilayer manganites. The transport behaviour can be explained on the basis of the effect of ES on the hopping possibility of Mn3+ eg electrons. (© 2004 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)