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J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 25 (2013) 216004 (7pp) doi:10.1088/0953-8984/25/21/216004

HoCrO3 and YCrO3: a comparative study

Brajesh Tiwari, M Krishna Surendra and M S Ramachandra Rao

Nano Functional Materials Technology Centre, Materials Science Research Centre and Department of
Physics, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai 600036, India

E-mail: msrrao@iitm.ac.in

Received 8 January 2013, in final form 9 March 2013

Published 3 May 2013
Online at stacks.iop.org/JPhysCM/25/216004
Abstract
A comparative study on structural, optical and magnetic properties of orthorhombic
+
perovskite-like isostructural compounds HoCrO3 and YCrO3 was carried out, wherein Ho3 is
3+
a magnetic ion and Y is non-magnetic. We found almost identical structural parameters for
both compounds, however a significant difference was observed in low wavenumber Raman
active phonon modes. The effect of local field on optical transitions of Cr ion is studied by
+
diffused reflectance spectroscopy. In order to understand the effect due to the Ho3 local
+
magnetic field on the magnetic ordering of Cr3 in ACrO3 (A = Ho, Y), dc magnetization
measurements were carried out in a temperature range of 5–300 K and several isotherms were
analyzed. Magnetization measurements reveal that Cr3+ magnetic ordering temperature is
insensitive to local fields (due to Ho3+ ) and very sensitive to thermal cycling in the presence
of an external applied magnetic field. This behavior is related to magnetic disorder near the
phase transition due to weak ferromagnetism and/or structural distortions which we observed
as thermal hysteresis. The importance of this work lies with the fact that both Ho3+ (10.6 µB )
and Y3+ (0 µB ) have identical ionic radii and the electron correlation effects in both the
systems have been studied using different experimental techniques.
(Some figures may appear in colour only in the online journal)

1. Introduction motion of Cr and O ions and recently it has been shown

Rare earth orthochromites (ACrO3 ) have attracted much
interest in recent years due to their potential application as
multifunctional materials [1–5]. Rare earth orthochromites
have a distorted orthorhombic perovskite-like structure Pnma
and, despite the small energy (0.01–0.1 eV) involved in the
tilting of octahedra in perovskites which may be caused
by geometric, electronic and/or magnetic considerations, can
lead to dramatic changes in physical properties such as
ferroelectricity, magnetic order, superconductivity etc [6]. It
is widely accepted that the Cr–O1–Cr (O1 being apical) bond
angle is reduced from 180◦ due to cooperative octahedral
tilting which affects the superexchange coupling and hence
magnetic ordering temperature (TN ). The effect of magnetic
ordering on some of the Raman active optical phonon modes
has been observed for some rare earth orthochromites such
as YCrO3 , GdCrO3 and HoCrO3 [7, 8] which has been
understood on the basis of phonon modes related to the
by Hong et al [5] using density functional calculations in
AMnO3 (A = Ca, Sr and Ba) compounds that spin–phonon
coupling crucially depends on the A-site cations [5]. In the
present work we chose distorted orthorhombic perovskites,
HoCrO3 and YCrO3 with identical structural parameters and
similar distortions due to similar ionic radii of Ho3+ (1.015 Å)
and Y3+ (1.019 Å) ions [9]. A Raman spectroscopy study
was carried out to find the phonon modes sensitive to A-site
motion in ACrO3 (A = Ho and Y) which can be identified
easily because of the large difference in atomic masses of Ho
(164.93) and Y (88.91). In order to understand the effect of
the local magnetic field and aspherical nature due to Ho ions
over Y ions on the optical bands of Cr3+ in an octahedral field,
diffused reflectance spectra were recorded and analyzed using
the Kubelka–Munk function [10]. Weak ferromagnetism and
the nature of magnetic transition in HoCrO3 and YCrO3 were
studied with temperature dependent dc magnetization and
magnetization isotherms at different temperatures.

0953-8984/13/216004+07$33.00 1 c 2013 IOP Publishing Ltd Printed in the UK & the USA

J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 25 (2013) 216004 B Tiwari et al

Figure 1. Observed (black line with star), calculated (red line with square), background (blue line with upper triangle) and difference
(bluish-green line with down triangle) XRD profiles of (a) HoCrO3 and (b) YCrO3 recorded at room temperature. The Rietveld refinement
was performed using GSAS.

2. Experimental details Table 1. Refined structural lattice parameters, fractional atomic

positions and density for HoCrO3 and YCrO3 as obtained from
Powder samples of HoCrO3 and YCrO3 were synthesized XRD data. Space group Pnma: 4c (x, 1/4, z), 4b (0, 0, 1/2) and 8d
(x, y, z).
by a conventional solid state reaction route from the starting
materials, Ho2 O3 , Y2 O3 and Cr2 O3 . Stoichiometric ratios Parameters HoCrO3 YCrO3
of powders (as received by Alfa Aesar with purity 99.9%) χ 2
1.27 1.28
were mixed thoroughly in agate mortar. Before the final wRp 7.79% 5.37%
heat treatment at 1300 ◦ C for 24 h, two intermediate Rp 5.37% 5.89%
calcinations were carried out at 600 and 900 ◦ C for a (Å) 5.518(6) 5.519(5)
12 h. The phase purity of the resultant greenish powder b (Å) 7.539(8) 7.534(6)
samples was examined by x-ray diffraction (XRD) and c (Å) 5.245(5) 5.244(4)
Raman spectroscopy. The powder XRD data of the powder Ho (Y) position 4c (x, 1/4, z) x 0.065 0.066
samples were collected using a PANalytical X’Pert Pro z 0.015 0.017
x-ray diffractometer with Cu Kα radiation under ambient O(1) position 4c (x, 1/4, z) x −0.032 −0.032
conditions. Crystal structure refinements were carried out z 0.605 0.598
O(2) position 8d (x, y, z) x 0.713 0.711
using a general structure analysis system (GSAS) [11]. A
y −0.053 −0.053
GSAS output cif file was used to plot the structure using z 0.309 0.303
a trial version of diamond (2.0) software. Raman spectra
were collected in backscattering configuration using a WiTec Cr–O1–Cr (deg) 146.0 147.6
Density (g cm−3 ) 8.234 5.752
alfa 300 Confocal Raman microscope/spectrometer (spectral
resolution 0.9 cm−1 ) equipped with a Peltier cooled CCD
detector. A laser with λexc = 532 nm, focused on the sample
through a 50× objective, was used as an excitation source group Pnma using GSAS software [10] and the difference
under low power (∼5 mW) to avoid local heating. Diffused between the data and model are shown in figures 1(a)
reflectance spectra (DRS) were collected in an extended and (b) respectively. A good fit was obtained and all the fit
visible range (350–850 nm) using halogens with a white parameters are summarized in table 1. The data confirm the
light source (Ocean-Optics-2000 spectrometer) and BaSO4 single phase orthorhombic structure formation and the values
as a reference. Magnetic measurements for HoCrO3 and are close to those of earlier reports [12, 13]. There is no
YCrO3 powder samples were performed using a vibrating appreciable difference in the lattice parameters and fractional
sample magnetometer, an attachment in PPMS (Model 6000, atomic positions of HoCrO3 and YCrO3 as given in table 1
Quantum Design, USA) in the temperature range of 5–300 K. because Ho and Y in their 3+ oxidation state (eight fold
Temperature dependent magnetization measurements were environment) have almost the same ionic radii 1.015 Å and
done by following zero-field cooled (ZFC), field-cooled and 1.019 Å respectively [7], with an identical tolerance factor
data was recorded during cooling (FCC) and warming (FCW) ∼0.851 towards the distortion from an ideal cubic perovskite.
procedures with an applied field of 100 Oe. Magnetization
An orthorhombically distorted perovskite-like structure with
(M) isotherms were recorded at different temperatures up to
an applied magnetic field (H) of 70 kOe.
space group Pnma(D16 2h ) can be obtained by the anti-phase tilt
of adjacent CrO6 octahedra, a− b+ a− in Glazer notation [6].
3. Results and discussion The chemical unit cell of YCrO3 is shown in figure 2(a) which
has four formula units per unit cell. Isostructural compounds
X-ray diffraction (XRD) data of nominal HoCrO3 and YCrO3 have a significant difference in the theoretical density of
powder samples (green color) were Rietveld refined to space 8.234 g cm−3 and 5.752 g cm−3 in HoCrO3 and YCrO3

2
J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 25 (2013) 216004 B Tiwari et al

Figure 2. (a) Distorted orthorhombic (Pnma) perovskite crystal structure of YCrO3 and (b) Raman spectra of isostructural HoCrO3 (lower
curve) and YCrO3 (upper curve) recorded with a laser of wavelength 532 nm.

Table 2. Comparison of isostructural compounds HoCrO3 and YCrO3 based on frequencies of their Raman phonon modes.
HoCrO3 YCrO3
Present Present Reference [3] Symmetry mode Atomic motion [3]
140 151 152 Ag (7) O1(x), A(x)
150 184 185 Ag (5) A(z) out-of-phase
272 280 281 Ag (6) CrO6 in-phase y rotation
341 341 342 Ag (2) O1(x), A(−x)
418 425 426 Ag (4) CrO6 out-of-phase x rotation
491 491 492 Ag (1) O2 Antistretching
562 562 564 Ag (3) CrO6 bending
161 219 219 B2g (5) A(x)
313 314 313 B2g (6) A(z), O1(−z)
495 501 502 B2g (2) In-phase O2 scissors like
260 265 266 B1g (4) CrO6 z rotation
401 408 408 B1g (3) CrO6 out-of-phase y rotation
173 174 B3g (5) A(y)
484 485 485 B3g (3) Out-of-phase O2 scissors like
564 566 567 B3g (2) O2, O1 antistretching

respectively due to differences in their molecular weights. In
the orthorhombic Pnma structure Ho (or Y) and O1 occupy
Wyckoff position 4c (x, 1/4, z) which have mirror plane
(Csxz plane) symmetry and the general position 8d (x, y, z)
by O2 while Cr is at the center of the inversion symmetry
with Wyckoff position 4b (0, 0, 1/2) and does not participate
directly in Raman active modes.
Raman spectroscopy is a very powerful technique for
perovskite-like materials due to the fact that there are no
Raman active phonon modes for ideal cubic perovskite
(Pm3̄m) and therefore all the observed lines in Raman
spectra of distorted perovskite (Pnma) are related to some
deviation from ideal perovskite. In orthorhombic Pnma (point
group: mmm) structure, group-theoretical analysis predicts 24
(7Ag + 5B1g + 7B2g + 5B3g ) Raman active modes. Activating
distortions and main atomic motion of Raman active phonon
modes are presented for several compounds with Pnma space
group [14]. X-ray diffraction study was unable to distinguish
any structural differences between the two compounds, hence
Raman spectroscopic studies are important to see the effect
of A-site atoms. Figure 2(b) shows the Raman spectra of
HoCrO3 (black) and YCrO3 (red) and the Raman intensity
lines are marked according to Todorov et al [3] for YCrO3 ,
details are given in table 2. We observe a notable difference
in relative Raman shifts for some of the lower wavenumber
(50–300 cm−1 ) phonon modes, particularly those associated
with the motion of A-site atoms (table 2) in ACrO3 (HoCrO3
and YCrO3 ) due to large difference atomic masses of Ho
(164.93) and Y (88.91). The largest difference ∼58 cm−1 can
be noticed for the B2g (5) phonon mode which is activated by
rotation in the [101] direction [14] and is related to the motion
of A (Ho3+ or Y3+ ) in ACrO3 as given in table 2.
To understand the effect of the A-site ion in d–d
transitions of Cr3+ (d3 ) with the ground state 4 F (t32g e0g ) in
CrO6 octahedra, diffuse reflectance spectra in the extended
visible range 350 to 850 nm were recorded. Applying the
Kubelka–Munk (KM) function [10], F(R) = (1 − R)2 /2R,
the diffuse reflectance (R) spectra of HoCrO3 and YCrO3
were converted into absorption spectra and plotted in figure 3.
Details of the peak positions are given in table 3. Two
dominant absorption bands as seen in figure 3, at ∼450 nm
and ∼606 nm correspond to: 4 A2g → 4 T1g and 4 A2g →
4T
2g respectively in almost similar octahedral crystalline
fields for both HoCrO3 and YCrO3 in the visible spectrum.
Another set of weak transitions, 4 A2g → 2 T1g (∼694 nm)
and 4 A2g → 2 Eg (∼732 nm) are also observed which are
spin-forbidden [15]. The inset of figure 3 shows schematics of
the energy level diagram of Cr3+ in an octahedral crystalline

3
J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 25 (2013) 216004 B Tiwari et al

Magnetic studies with different protocols, ZFC (black

line), FCC (red line) and FCW (blue line), of magnetic and
non-magnetic ACrO3 were carried out from 5 K to 300 K with
an applied field of 100 Oe and were shown in figures 4(a) and
(c) respectively. ZFC measurements of HoCrO3 did not show
negative magnetization, contrary to some earlier reports [12,
16]. Negative magnetization in the ZFC measurement is
possible for diamagnetic samples. However FCC or FCW
may show negative magnetization due to competition between
ferromagnetic/antiferromagnetic orderings. A ZFC measure-
ment showing negative magnetization in ferro/ferri/antiferro
magnetic materials is only due to the trapped field during the
measurement which can be avoided by making the coercive
field zero by the ‘oscillatory mode’ in magnetometer [17]. The
trapped field/coercive field in the magnetometer/sample were
Figure 3. Kubelka–Munk function ((1 − R)2 /2R) as a function of made zero in the oscillatory mode which avoids the negative
the wavelength of HoCrO3 (lower curve) and YCrO3 (upper curve) magnetization in the ZFC measurement. Since HoCrO3 and
while the inset shows the schematic of the energy level diagram of
Cr3+ in an octahedral crystal field with ground state 4 F3/2 and the YCrO3 are structurally identical, they are expected to have the
corresponding d–d transitions are marked. same antiferromagnetic transition temperature (TN ), 140.8 K
as seen in figures 4(a) and (c) respectively. Magnetization
in HoCrO3 is higher than that of YCrO3 due to the
Table 3. Optical transitions of Cr3+ 3d3 electrons in an octahedral ‘Ho’ moments throughout the temperature range; however
crystal field of CrO6 .
the difference increased further when ‘Ho’ moments start
Transitions HoCrO3 YCrO3 ordering. Below chromium ordering, it is also observed that
4 4
A2g → T1g (nm) 450.6 the magnetization tends to saturate in YCrO3 due to weak
448.9
556.2 ferromagnetism whereas HoCrO3 shows paramagnetic ‘Ho’
4
A2g → 4 T2g (nm) 553.7 moments still ordered at ∼7.5 K. Temperature dependent
606.6 607.1 inverse magnetic susceptibility 1/χ versus T, is plotted as
650.7
shown on the right y-axis of figures 4(a) and (c) (green
1E = (4 A2g → 0.7080 0.7198
4
T1g ) − (4 A2g → 4 T2g ) (eV)
line). Above TN , 1/χ versus T curve follows the Curie–Weiss
4
A2g → 2 T1g (nm) 693.9 695.8 law: χ = C/(T − 2), where C is the Curie constant related
4
A2g → 2 Eg (nm) 732.6 732.6 to effective paramagnetic moment (µeff ), T is temperature
and 2 is the paramagnetic Curie temperature or Weiss
constant. From the Curie–Weiss fit (red line on green line),
the estimated moment µeff (HoCrO3 ) = 11.3 µB for HoCrO3
field. For octahedrally coordinated Cr3+ there are three
which is close to the theoretical value µtheo (HoCrO3 ) =
spin-allowed transitions [15] 4 T2g → 4 A2g , 4 T1g → 4 A2g of
11.55 µB calculated from the free ion values 10.6 µB
term 4 F and 4 T1g (P) → 4 A2g of term 4 P, which are shown
for Ho3+ and 3.87 µB for Cr3+ (spin only values)
by arrows and the energy levels are shown by solid horizontal
whereas the estimated moment for YCrO3 , µeff (YCrO3 ) =
lines in the inset of figure 3. For HoCrO3 we observed two
4.7 µB is far away from theoretical value 3.87 µB due
absorption peaks at 553.7 and 650.7 nm, as indicated by
to its weak ferromagnetic nature. The asymptotically Weiss
stars, apart from the first spin-allowed excited state transition
4 T (t2 e1 ) → 4 A (t3 e0 ) which can be attributed to a constants −24 and −449 K observed for HoCrO3 and
2g 2g g 2g 2g g
YCrO3 , respectively, were found to be negative, indicating
Zeeman-type splitting of an excited electron due to the Ho3+ the predominance of antiferromagnetic interactions in both
local magnetic field even in the paramagnetic phase at room chromites. It is interesting to notice that the |2|/TN values for
temperature and/or due to asphericity in the 4f orbital of HoCrO3 and YCrO3 are 0.17 (<1) and 3.12 (>1) respectively,
a Ho3+ ion sitting among octahedra. Similar behavior was which differ substantially from the value unity, implying that
also seen as shoulders in the transition 4 T1g → 4 A2g also. the next-nearest neighbor couplings are crucial to understand
HoCrO3 showed some additional optical transitions which the magnetic environment of an arrangement of magnetic
could be attributed to the local magnetic field and/or to the ions.
asphericity of the Ho ion, whereas these absorption peaks In order to understand the magnetic behavior, magneti-
were not observed in YCrO3 . The exact origins of these zation isotherms at different temperatures, 5 K, 10 K, 50 K,
peaks are not clear and hence required detailed optical studies. 100 K, 150 K and 300 K up to 70 kOe, are presented for
Being isostructural compounds, to understand the effect of the HoCrO3 and YCrO3 in figures 4(b) and (d), respectively, and
A-site ion, we performed the magnetic measurements and it is the insets for these figures show the magnified view of M–H
expected that ‘Cr’ in YCrO3 and HoCrO3 orders at the same loops for lower applied magnetic fields (up to 20 kOe). There
temperature which was indeed observed in the temperature is no loop opening for magnetization isotherms at 150 and
dependent magnetization measurements. 300 K because of the paramagnetic phase in the samples.

4
J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 25 (2013) 216004
Figure 4. Magnetization versus temperature measurements in the range 5 to 300 K for (a) HoCrO3 and (c) YCrO3 . Magnetization
isotherms with applied magnetic field up to 70 kOe of (b) HoCrO3 and (d) YCrO3 (see the text for details).
Magnetization isotherms recorded below TN , at 100, 50, 10
and 5 K, show clear magnetization loop opening but show
no sign of magnetization saturation (except for HoCrO3 at
5 K) up to 70 kOe, indicating predominant antiferromagnetic
exchange interaction. In HoCrO3 at 5 K, the magnetization
tends to saturate at 5.7 µB /f.u. which may be due to the
antiferromagnetic ordering of the ‘Ho(10.6 µB )’ moment with
respect to the ordered ‘Cr(3.87 µB )’ moments. It is also
observed that the magnetization value of HoCrO3 (figure 4(b))
at 5 K is one order higher compared to that of YCrO3
(figure 4(d)). This is due to the fact that Ho3+ contributes
10.6 µB /f.u. while Y3+ has no contribution. This kind of
magnetization loop is attributed to the existence of weak
ferromagnetism where dc magnetization increases linearly in
the larger magnetic field region and magnetization evolves as
M(H) = χAF H + Ms ; where χAF H is the antiferromagnetic
contribution and Ms is the saturation magnetization of
weak ferromagnetism. At 50 K, after Cr ordering, the
weak ferromagnetic saturation magnetizations observed in
YCrO3 and HoCrO3 are ∼0.67 emu g−1 (0.023 µB /f.u.)
and ∼5.3 emu g−1 (0.251 µB /f.u.) while the coercive
fields are 12.58 kOe and 5.6 kOe, respectively. Anti-
ferromagnetic contributions to the magnetization loop at
50 K are χAF , ∼0.88 emu (g−1 Oe−1 ) for HoCrO3 and
0.03 emu (g−1 Oe−1 ) for YCrO3 . Using 2 and χAF at 50 K,
the effective magnetic moments obtained are in agreement
with the Curie–Weiss fit. The weak ferromagnetism is at-
tributed to the observed canting of Cr3+ (t32g e0g configuration:
S = 3/2) spin magnetic moments which is followed by
the tilting of two adjacent CrO6 corner sharing octahedra
with a Cr–O1–Cr bond angle of ∼147◦ , far from the ideal
180◦ in distorted orthorhombic perovskite-like materials. The
observed higher coercive field in YCrO3 compared to HoCrO3
is due to the presence of a magnetic ion (Ho) between
two antiferromagnetically ordered Cr-magnetic planes along
(010), effectively reducing the magnetocrystalline anisotropy.
5
B Tiwari et al
The magnified portion of magnetization versus temper-
ature curves in the vicinity of antiferromagnetic transition is
shown as the insets of figures 4(a) and (c) for HoCrO3 and
YCrO3 , respectively, which clearly shows a thermal hysteresis
in FCC and FCW magnetization measurements. Field-cooled
magnetization recorded in cooling cycle (FCC) shows a lower
onset temperature compared to warming cycle (FCW) by a
temperature difference of 1 K for both HoCrO3 and YCrO3 .
In order to understand the thermal hysteresis in field-cooled
magnetization measurements at low field (100 Oe), first
quadrant magnetization isotherms were recorded in the close
vicinity of TN . Magnetic isotherms from 135 K to 150 K
at a constant temperature difference of 2 K with an applied
magnetic field of 20 kOe (a linear increase were observed up
to 70 kOe for both samples, which is not shown) for HoCrO3
and YCrO3 are shown in figures 5(a) and (c), respectively. In
the Ginzburg formulation which includes the magnetostatic
field energy (MH), where M is the experimentally observed
specific magnetization as an order parameter and H is the
applied magnetic field, the thermodynamic potential is given
by 8 = 8o + 21 αM 2 + 14 βM 4 − MH, where α, β are
temperature dependent constants. In equilibrium (∂8/∂M =
0) the expression reduces to H/M = βM 2 +α. Thus, the Arrott
plot [18], isotherms of M 2 against H/M, should appear as a
straight line in the high applied magnetic field region as shown
in figures 5(b) and (d) for HoCrO3 and YCrO3 , respectively.
According to the criteria proposed by Banerjee et al [19],
for second order phase transitions, β must be positive while
it is negative for the first order magnetic phase transition,
the latter was observed clearly for HoCrO3 in the inset of
figure 5(b) and for YCrO3 in figure 5(d). For HoCrO3 and
YCrO3 , the slopes of M 2 versus H/M curves are negative,
which means negative β for the lower fields which is also
supported by the thermal hysteresis discussed earlier (insets
of figures 4(a) and (c)). The exchange energy (Curie or Néel
J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 25 (2013) 216004
Figure 5. First quadrant magnetization isotherms near the transition temperature with an applied magnetic field up to 20 kOe and
corresponding Arrott plots of (a) and (b) HoCrO3 and (c) and (d) YCrO3 and the inset in figure 4(b) is the zoomed portion (for detail see the
text).
temperature) is a strong function of inter-atomic spacing and
bond strength. At absolute zero the system’s free energy may
be lowered by the distortion of the lattice in the direction of
increasing transition temperature [20, 21] as we observed for
HoCrO3 and YCrO3 , in which the onset of magnetic ordering
has been found to increase by ∼1 K in the FCW compared to
the FCC measurement cycle. There is a change in the unit cell
volume near the magnetic transition of YCrO3 as observed
by Udagawa et al and hence a thermal hysteresis due to the
change in exchange interaction energy. However, the origin of
the observed first order phase transition from magnetization
studies in these compounds needs to be confirmed by other
studies. Since Y3+ and Ho3+ have the same ionic radii, the
expected lattice distortions in HoCrO3 and YCrO3 should
be the same and this fact has been confirmed by XRD
analysis. Even though HoCrO3 and YCrO3 are isostructural,
the observed Raman spectra for lower frequency modes are
different due to the different atomic masses of Y3+ and Ho3+ .
Due to the identical distortions and lattice parameters, Cr3+
in both compounds orders antiferromagnetically at almost the
same temperature.
4. Conclusion
We found almost identical structural parameters for isostruc-
tural orthorhombic perovskite-like HoCrO3 and YCrO3
compounds, however a significant difference has been
observed in low wavenumber Raman active phonon modes
which are related to the motion of A-site ions. Splitting in
spin-allowed d–d transitions of Cr3+ in CrO6 octahedra can be
attributed to the local magnetic field in HoCrO3 which is not
6
B Tiwari et al
observed in YCrO3 . The Cr3+ magnetic ordering temperature
is insensitive to A-site ions in ACrO3 (A = Ho and Y)
and internal magnetic fields due to Ho3+ , while it is very
sensitive to thermal cycling in the presence of an externally
applied magnetic field. Thermal hysteresis in magnetization
near Cr3+ magnetic ordering is related to magnetic disorder
due to the presence of weak ferromagnetism and/or structural
distortions.
Acknowledgments
The authors would acknowledge the Department of Science
and Technology (DST) of India for the financial support (grant
No. SR/NM/NAT-02/2005). MKS thanks CSIR, Govt. of India
for providing a Senior Research Fellowship.
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