Non-magnetic ions doping effects in the magnetic properties of zircon-type GdCrO4 compound

Abstract In this paper, we report the effect of V and Y-doping on the structural and magnetic properties of the GdCrO4 compound obtained by the co-precipitation method. The analysis of the X-ray diffraction data using the Rietveld refinement confirm the formation of a single phase consistent with the zircon-type structure (tetragonal and I 4 1 / amd space group) and a decreasing of lattice parameter with increasing of doping. The T-dependent magnetic susceptibility is consistent with a ferromagnetic and an antiferromagnetic orders for YCrO4 and GdVO4 samples, respectively. On the other hand, the positive signal of Curie–Weiss constants of doped samples indicate the predominance of ferromagnetic correlations. Furthermore, the displacement of the maximum of susceptibility and the thermal hysteresis as a function of doping can be an indication of frustration effects. Isothermal magnetization measured at T = 2 K show a change of slope at low magnetic fields for V-doped samples and a decrease of the magnetic moment for Y-doped GdCrO4. At T = 15 K, the analysis of MvsH curves reveal that only part of Gd3+ magnetic moments are ordered.