Cooling field and temperature dependent exchange bias in Gd substituted YFe0.5Cr0.5O3

We report the results of our investigation of cooling field and temperature dependence of exchange bias on Gd substituted mixed metal oxide YFe0.5Cr0.5O3. A negative exchange bias is observed in the Gd-substituted compounds, in contrast to the positive exchange bias in parent compound, YFe0.5Cr0.5O3 [1]. With the increase in Gd concentration it is noted that the exchange bias decreases. It was noted that the paramagnetic contribution from Gd ions plays the leading role in comparison to the antiferromagnetic type correlations among spins as is observed for the parent compound. Due to magnetic rare earth ion, additional exchange interaction of the form Gd-O-Fe/Cr dominates the magnetic interaction arising due to the transition metal ions, resulting in the reduction in exchange bias value.