Structure and magnetic transitions along with magnetization switching in nanoparticles of CeCr1-x Fe x O3 (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.1)

Highlights: • CeCr_1-xFe_xO₃ (0 ≤ x≤0.1) nanoparticles have been synthesized through one-step nitrate solution combustion method. • Substitution of Fe³⁺ induces more distorted orthorhombic (Pnma) structure. • Particle size obtained from TEM micrograph are ~50nm. • Magnetization reversal has been observed in CeCr_1-xFe_xO₃ (0 ≤ x≤0.1). • A new transition temperature, T_N1 is observed in Fe³⁺ doped sample. • Bipolar magnetization switching effect is demonstrated in x=0.06. Here, we have investigated the structural, magnetic, and bipolar switching properties in CeCr_1-xFe_xO₃ (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/tilting of Cr–O₆ octahedra. Besides the Néel transition, T_N2 ~260K due to antiferromagnetic (AFM) ordering of Cr³⁺ in x=0, a new Néel transition, T_N1 above T_N2 in x> 0 is manifested attributing to the weak antiferromagnetic interaction between Cr³⁺ and Fe³⁺ moments. Below the Néel 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.