A neutron diffraction study of the magnetic properties of PrTiO3 and NdTiO3

The magnetic properties of PrTiO₃ and NdTiO₃ were studied by neutron diffraction at several temperatures below 110 K. Although PrTiO₃ exhibits a T_N at 90 K no significant magnetic scattering was detected down to 65 K. The order at 90 K can be attributed to the Ti(III) below our detection limit of 0.25μ_B. Below 65 K magnetic reflections due to the Pr(III) sublattice develop consistent with a F_xC_y configuration. At 7 K the moment is 1.35(15)μ[inB] and lies at 45° (5) to the a or b axes. This structure is contrasted with that found for PrCrO₃. By comparing powder data at 50 and 7 K for NdTiO₃ it is concluded there is no evidence for magnetic order on either the Nd(III) or Ti(III) sublattices in agreement with bulk magnetic properties. The decrease in magnitude of the Ti(III) moment from LaTiO₃ to NdTiO₃ is compared to the known behavior of the La_1-xY_xTiO₃ system and is found to be consistent.