Study of Magnetism and specific-heat properties for multiferroic YCrO3 chromites

The magnetic and specific-heat properties of the multiferroic YCrO₃ chromites have been investigated in a temperature range of 2-300K. The results show that spin canted antiferromagnetic ordering of Cr³⁺ (S=3/2) around 140K. At elevated temperature all susceptibility follow the Curie-Weiss law and the corresponding effective magnetic moment μ_eff=3.99μB, which is closed to the theoretical value for Hund´s rule ground state of the Cr³⁺ when the orbital moments are quenched due to the crystalline electric field effects as expected for a d³ ion in octahedral environment. Furthermore, the specific heat data show a typical second order phase transition from paramagnetic to CAFM ordering at T_N=140K, especially, the analyses of magnetic and phonon entropy of YCrO₃ suggest that there exist additional phonon modes, which can be contributed by the polarization. Owing to the Y³⁺ is nonmagnetic, the present results exhibit the interaction of the canted Cr³⁺ moments, and it will be helpful to understand physical mechanism and possible application for multiferroic YCrO₃ chromites.