Magnetization switching of rare earth orthochromite CeCrO3

We report the synthesis of single phase rare earth orthochromite CeCrO3 and its magnetic properties. A canted antiferromagnetic transition with thermal hysteresis at T = 260 K is observed, and a magnetic compensation (zero magnetization) near 133 K is attributed to the antiparallel coupling between Ce3+ and Cr3+ moments. At low temperature, field induced magnetization reversal starting from 43 K for H = 1.2 kOe reveals the spin flip driven by Zeeman energy between the net moments and the applied field. These findings may find potential uses in magnetic switching devices such as nonvolatile magnetic memory which facilitates two distinct states of magnetization.