Multiferroic properties of Gd/Er doped chromium ferrite nano sized particles synthesized by citrate auto combustion method

The non-stoichiometric Gd/Er doped Chromium nano ferrite with uniform and tunable size has been successfully synthesized by citrate auto combustion method. The prepared samples exhibit a combination of non-stoichiometry and non electroneutrality. The neutrality in the investigated samples is well maintained via the reduction of oxygen or removal of Cr ions. The ferromagnetic as well as the ferroelectric hysteresis loops of the investigated samples were studied. The obtained data shows that the antiferromagnetic nature in CrFe2O4 (CrFeO3) is turned into weak ferromagnetism in rare earth doped chromium. The substitution of rare earth ions for Fe can dramatically improve the saturation magnetization and remnant magnetization. The band gap energy was calculated from near infrared (NIR) and visible (VIS) reflectance spectra using the Kubelka-Munk function. Special attention should be given to chromium ferrite nanoparticles which are suitable candidates to be used in many applications like non-volatile data storage and camera flashes due to their ferroelectrics properties.