Synthesis and magnetic properties of CeVO3 nanostructures

CeVO3 nanocrystals were fabricated by sintering CeVO4 precursors in flowing hydrogen. Under an applied field of 20 Oe, a G-type orbital ordering transition, corresponding to the cooperative Jahn–Teller distortion, was enhanced and observed from the magnetization curve of CeVO3 nanorods, different from that of the nanocrystallites. This enhancement of the orbital ordering transition depended on the giant magnetocrystalline anisotropy induced by strong crystallographic anisotropy. Furthermore, a stronger applied field decreased the anisotropy of electronic state induced by spatial shapes of orbitals and confined the cooperative Jahn–Teller distortion by lifting the orbital degeneracy, leading to the suppression of the orbital ordering transition.