Multiferroic behaviour in B-site Cr-doped hexagonal YInO3 perovskites: Synthesis, structure and properties

New phase pure multiferroic oxides, YIn1-xCrxO3 (x = 0.1, 0.3, 0.5), are synthesized by glycine-aided sol-gel combustion technique using binary oxides and nitrates. YIn0.9Cr0.1O3 (I), YIn0.7Cr0.3O3 (II) and YIn0.5Cr0.5O3 (III) are investigated through powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), elemental analysis (EDAX), magnetization and polarisation studies. Crystal structure analysis reveals that the sample with 10% Cr3+ (compound I) crystallizes in hexagonal P6(3)cm space group with a = 6.28035 and c = 12.533 angstrom. The samples with higher concentration of Cr3+ (compounds II and III) crystallize with a mixture of hexagonal and orthorhombic phases. From the detailed magnetic measurements, the compounds are found to exhibit dominating antiferromagnetic behaviour with Neel temperatures of 140, 130 and 125 K for I, II and III, respectively. The Curie-Weiss fittings provide different theta values and the effective magnetic moment, mu(eff) (2.60 mu B, to 4.23 mu B), gradually increases with increasing Cr3+ concentration. The observed values indicate that the spins are not perfectly aligned antiparallel, rather the system exhibits canted antiferromagnetic (AFM) behaviour with weak ferromagnetic interactions. The existence of magnetic ordering is also confirmed by the presence of hysteresis loop below the Neel temperature. The room temperature ferroelectric polarisation loops are indicative of the multiferroic nature of the synthesized compounds. The work reveals the significant role of Cr3+ substitution for structural evolution and enhanced multiferroic behaviour in YIn1-xCrxO3. (C) 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.