Magnetization reversal, field-induced transitions and H-T phase diagram of Y1-xCexCrO3

We report a systematic study of the magnetic phase diagram in the H-T plane, negative magnetization (NM), exchange interactions and field-induced spin-flop transitions in the distorted perovskite Y1-xCexCrO3. Locked AFM and weak-FM configurations in Gamma(4)(G(z) , F-y , A(x) ) phase of YCrO3 (S = 3/2 ground state) unlocks into the Gamma(2)(F-z , G(y) , C-x ; F-z(R),C-x(R)) phase of the canted AFM and FM structures with the dilute substitution of Ce (x >= 0.05). The asymmetric and symmetric exchange interaction (J(AS) similar to 0.11 meV and J(S) similar to 0.85 meV) between the trivalent Ce and Cr enable the positive quartic-anisotropy field (H-K4 similar to 2.85 x 10(2) Oe) along with the second order anisotropy field (H-K2 similar to 5.93 x 10(2) Oe). Unlike the pristine YCrO3 compound, the Ce incorporated system exhibits a giant fourth-order anisotropy constant (K-4 = 1.35 x 10(5) erg/c.c.) due to the asymmetric exchange interaction between the trivalent Ce-Cr which further lifts the free energy of the system and causes lag in the onset of AFM ordering showing the significant thermal hysteresis (Delta T similar to 10 K) in the field-cooled (FC)-warming measurement protocol as compared to the FC-cooling mode. The H-T phase diagram, mapped from the isothermal magnetization data and differential magnetic susceptibility data with different measurement protocols clearly distinguishes three prominent regions below the T-N (similar to 150 K), viz (i) long-range canted AFM + weak FM phase (Gamma(4) (G(z) , F-y , A(x) )), (ii) Gamma(24) mixed phase and (iii) robust Gamma(2) (F-z , G(y) , C-x ; F-z(R), C-x(R)) AFM + FM phases. Tunable spin-flopped transition (similar to 30 kOe), significant negative exchange-bias field (H-EB similar to 2.5 kOe), huge coercive field (H-C similar to 22 kOe) and large NM (Delta M similar to 280 emu/mole) are the unique characteristic features of the current investigated system.

Automated summary

In this study, a systematic investigation of the magnetic phase diagram, negative magnetization, exchange interactions, and field-induced spin-flop transitions in the distorted perovskite Y1-xCexCrO3 was conducted, revealing the unique characteristics of the Ce-incorporated system.