Cooling field tuned magnetic phase transition and exchange bias-like effect in Y0.9Pr0.1CrO3

Cooling magnetic field dependence of magnetic phase transition has been observed in Y0.9Pr0.1CrO3. GzFx order (spin structure of PrCrO3) is dominant after zero field cooling (ZFC), whereas G(x)F(z) order (spin structure of YCrO3) is dominant after cooling under a field higher than 100 Oe. Positive/negative exchange bias-like effect, with large vertical shift and small horizontal shift, has been observed after FC/ZFC process. The vertical shift can be attributed to the frozen ordered Pr3+ and Cr3+ spins in magnetic domains, because of the strong coupling between Pr3+ and Cr3+ sublattices; while the horizontal shift is a result of the pinning of spins at the interfaces. The frozen structure is generated by the field used for the measurement of the initial magnetization curve of M(H) for the ZFC cooled sample, while it is generated by the cooling field for the sample cooled under a cooling field higher than 100 Oe. (C) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC