Structure and magnetic transitions along with magnetization switching in nanoparticles of CeCr1-xFexO3 (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.1)

Here, we have investigated the structural, magnetic, and bipolar switching properties in CeCr1-xFexO3 (0 <= x <= 0.1) nanoparticles synthesized by one-step solution combustion method. Rietveld and Raman analysis demonstrate an increase in distortion of orthorhombic structure after substitution of Fe3+ ions due to the rotation/ filling of Cr-O-6 octahedra. Besides the Neel transition, T-N2 similar to 260 K due to antiferromagnetic (AFM) ordering of Cr3+ in x = 0, a new Neel transition, T-N1 above T-N2 in x > 0 is manifested attributing to the weak antiferromagnetic interaction between Cr3+ and Fe3+ moments. Below the Neel transitions, some interesting magnetic features such as compensation temperature, T-comp and spin reorientation temperature, T-SR are observed. Most importantly, a stable bipolar switching of magnetization by varying the external field is demonstrated for x = 0.06 which could be exploited for its potential use in data storage and magnetic switching based nonvolatile magnetic memory devices.