  Temperature dependent synchrotron x-ray diffraction and extended x-ray
absorption fine structure (EXAFS) studies were performed to understand the role
of structural characteristics in driving the magnetoelectric mul- tiferoic
properties of GdCrO3. The results suggest that the distortion in the structure
appears to be associated with the off-center displacement of Gd-atoms together
with octahedral rotations via displacement of the oxygen ions in GdCrO3. In
addition, the magnetic coupling below magnetic transition temperature leads to
additional distortion in the system via magnetostriction effect, playing a
complementary role in the enhancement of ferro- electric polarization. Further,
a comparative EXAFS study of GdCrO3 with a similar system YCrO3 suggests that
oxygen environment of Gd in GdCrO3 is different from Y in YCrO3, which
resulting in an orthorhombic P na21 structure in GdCrO3 in contrast to the
monoclinic P 21 structure in YCrO3 .
