Synthesis and magnetic properties of CeVO3 nanostructures

CeVO₃ nanocrystals were fabricated by sintering CeVO₄ precursors in flowing hydrogen. Under an applied field of 20 Oe, a G-type orbital ordering transition, corresponding to the cooperative Jahn-Teller distortion, was enhanced and observed from the magnetization curve of CeVO₃ nanorods, different from that of the nanocrystallites. This enhancement of the orbital ordering transition depended on the giant magnetocrystalline anisotropy induced by strong crystallographic anisotropy. Furthermore, a stronger applied field decreased the anisotropy of electronic state induced by spatial shapes of orbitals and confined the cooperative Jahn-Teller distortion by lifting the orbital degeneracy, leading to the suppression of the orbital ordering transition.