Cr-doping induced ferromagnetic behavior in antiferromagnetic EuTiO3 nanoparticles

We have synthesized a series of high quality EuTi1-xCrxO3 ( x = 0.0, 0.02, and 0.04) nanoparticles by simple sol-gel technique. The averaged grain size of these obtained nanoparticles displays no obvious change with Cr-doping and is about 100 nm. The structural and magnetic properties of EuTi1-xCrxO3 ( x = 0.0, 0.02, and 0.04) samples were detailedly investigated. It is found that the G-antiferromagnetic (G-AFM) ordering of pure EuTiO3 can be significantly modified with slight Cr-doping, and finally the ferromagnetic behavior is enhanced for EuTi1-xCrxO3 system with Cr-doping. (C) 2011 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.