Dielectric and magnetocaloric study of TmCrO3

Abstract Dielectric and magnetocaloric measurements are carried out for the chromite TmCrO 3 . This oxide was reported to be multiferroic below the Neel temperature ( T N ) of ∼125 K, likely due to a structural transformation. The dielectric response shows large dielectric constants below 300 K. However, from the analyses of loss tangent, AC conductivity and dielectric modulus, this behavior is rooted in hopping of charge carriers rather than electric dipoles, as proposed for some other chromites. No dielectric anomaly is found at T N . The magnetocaloric effect shows that the magnetic transitions at T N as well as the spin reorientation temperature are of a second order. This result strongly suggests the absence of magnetostructural transition at T N in accord with no observation of ferroelectric transition at this temperature.