Magnetic properties of single-crystalline Mott insulator YVO3

Single crystals of YVO3 were grown using the floating-zone technique. YVO3 crystallizes in the orthorhombic Pbnm structure, and the structural parameters were determined by means of neutron diffraction. Using a superconducting quantum interference device magnetometer, we have studied the magnetic properties of YVO3 along the three principal directions. Our single crystal exhibits two magnetic transitions at about 115 and 75 K. For temperatures above the magnetic ordering, almost isotropic Curie-Weiss behavior is found for the magnetic susceptibility. Below the ordering, however, we find a highly anisotropic response with the c axis as the easy-magnetization direction. Both magnetic phases exhibit a weak ferromagnetic component along the c axis. A complex low-field magnetization behavior indicates that YVO3 orders ferrimagnetically for temperatures between 75 and 115 K. (C) 1999 American Institute of Physics. [S0021-8979(99)59308-0].