A novel multiferroic system: rare earth chromates

Authors

Zhenxiang Cheng, University of WollongongFollow
Xiaolin Wang, University of WollongongFollow
S X. Dou, University of WollongongFollow
Hideo Kimura, National Institute For Materials Science
Kiyoshi Ozawa, National Institute for Materials ScienceFollow

RIS ID

32912

Publication Details

Cheng, Z, Wang, P, Dou, SX, Kimura, H & Ozawa, K(2010), A novel multiferroic system: rare earth chromates, Journal of Applied Physics, 107(9), pp. 1-3.

Abstract

In this work, we report on our studies on the multiferroic properties of two rare earth chromates, GdCrO₃ and YCrO₃. Polycrystalline bulks and thin films have been fabricated using conventional solid state reaction and pulsed laser deposition. Magnetic measurements have revealed that both compounds show weak ferromagnetism below the antiferromagnetic Neel temperature, TN, of 170 and 140 K for GdCrO₃ and YCrO₃, respectively. However the well-developed ferroelectric polarization electrical field loop was not successfully measured for both samples due to their low resistance. The high conductivity of the samples at room temperature is related to the thermal activation of charge carriers at around 200 K in the samples revealed by temperature dependent dielectric measurement. Capacitance measurement at 77 K within magnetic field of 3000 Oe and zero field for GdCrO₃ bulk sample shows an increase in 58% in capacitance at 400 kHz by a magnetic field.