Impact of low level praseodymium substitution on the magnetic properties of YCrO₃ orthochromites

Praseodymium (Pr) modified yttrium orthochromites (YCrO₃ with Pr =0% and 5% at Y-sites) have been investigated with the aim of exploring the impact of low level Pr substitution on the magnetic properties including magnetization reversal, spin reorientation, and exchange bias of YCrO₃ compound. The samples exhibit a distorted orthorhombic structure with Pnma space group. A negative magnetization (or magnetization reversal) was observed under zero-field cooled (ZFC) mode for the pristine YCrO₃ sample, whereas such a feature disappeared with a 5% Pr substitution. In addition, the Pr-doped samples exhibited a spin reorientation behaviour which was absent in the pristine sample. Most interestingly, the ZFC magnetic hysteresis loops revealed a left and upward shift, resembling a negative exchange bias effect. These results indicate the effectiveness of low level doping in tailoring the magnetic properties of orthochromites.