Chromium Substitution Effect on the Magnetic Structure of Iron Oxides

The local magnetic and electronic structures of chromium substituted iron oxide polycrystalline samples are investigated via Fe L-edge x-ray absorption near-edge structural and magnetic circular dichroism measurements. A strong dependence of atomic magnetic levels on the applied external magnetic field is observed. The magnetic behavior of Cr-doped iron oxides are determined to be dominantly governed by the d-d hybridization between Fe and Cr valence levels. In addition, the formation of CrO2 and Cr2O3 chromium oxide clusters in the sample are observed to determine the magnetic ordering, i.e. anti-ferromagnetic or ferromagnetic with the changing external magnetic fields. The results highly agree with the previous studies.