Dielectric and magnetocaloric study of TmCrO3

Dielectric and magnetocaloric measurements are carried out for the chromite TmCrO3. This oxide was reported to be multiferroic below the Neel temperature (T-N) of similar to 125 K, likely due to a structural transformation. The dielectric response shows large dielectric constants below 300 K. However, from the analyses of loss tangent, AC conductivity and dielectric modulus, this behavior is rooted in hopping of charge carriers rather than electric dipoles, as proposed for some other chromites. No dielectric anomaly is found at T-N. The magnetocaloric effect shows that the magnetic transitions at T-N as well as the spin reorientation temperature are of a second order. This result strongly suggests the absence of magneto-structural transition at T-N in accord with no observation of ferroelectric transition at this temperature. (C) 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.