Tailoring complex magnetic phase transition in HoFeO3

• We synthesized a series of Ho1−xPrxFeO3 and HoFe1−xMnxO3 polycrystalline compounds.
• The spin reorientation temperature increases for Pr3+ or Mn3+ substitution.
• The Pr3+ substitution reduces the distortion of the crystal structure and Fe–O octahedron.
• The Mn3+ substitution weakens the Fe3+–Fe3+ antiferromagnetic interaction.
• The weak ferromagnetism decreases due to Mn3+ substitution.

We synthesized a series of Ho1−xPrxFeO3 and HoFe1−xMnxO3 polycrystalline compounds to study the A-site and B-site substitution effects on the structural and magnetic properties in HoFeO3. For A-site Pr3+ substitution, the spin reorientation temperature increases from 50 K at x=0 to 76 K at x=0.3. This results from that the distortion of the crystal structure and Fe–O octahedron is reduced due to Pr3+ substitution, which thus weakens the Fe3+–Fe3+ interaction. For B-site Mn3+ substitution, the Mn3+ substitution weakens the Fe3+–Fe3+ antiferromagnetic interaction, leading to the significant increase of the spin reorientation temperature and the decrease of the antiferromagnetic transition temperature as Mn3+ content increases. For x=0.45, both the spin reorientation and antiferromagnetic transition temperature draw close to room temperature. Besides, the weak ferromagnetism decreases due to the reduction of the Dzyaloshinsky–Moriya interaction caused by the dilution of Mn3+ ions.