Room-temperature magnetization reversal and magnetocaloric switching in Fe substituted GdMnO3

Room-temperature tunable bipolar magnetization switching and magnetically switchable magnetocaloric phenomena having numerous application potentials are reported in GdMn1-xFexO3 (x = 0.55 and 0.60) polycrystalline samples. Substitution of Fe in antiferromagnetic GdMnO3 induces a first-order spin-reorientation transition (T-SR), which along with antiferromagnetic ordering transition (T-N) gives rise to anomalies in dielectric spectra, a signature of magnetodielectric effect. Temperature-dependent Raman spectra confirm the spin-phonon coupling which could be the origin of the magnetodielectric effect in the system. Notably, low-field magnetically tunable magnetization reversal is found to appear between T-SR and T-N in these compounds owing to the competition between single-ion magnetic anisotropy and antisymmetric Dzyaloshinsky-Moriya interaction. Additionally, the GdMn0.40Fe0.60O3 sample reveals the coexistence of magnetically switchable conventional and inverse magnetocaloric effect at 250 and 310 K. The tailoring of these coexisting room-temperature magnetization reversal and magnetocaloric phenomena in a single-phase system suggests a route to design the material suitable for potential applications in electromagnetic and memory devices.