  We report on the heteroepitaxial stabilization of YCrO3 ultra-thin films on
LSAT (001) substrate. Using a combination of resonant X-ray absorption
spectroscopy (XAS) and atomic multiplet cluster calculation, the electronic
structure of YCrO3 thin film was investigated. Polarization dependent Cr L3,2
edge XAS measurement reveal the presence of an anomalous orbital polarization
uncharacteristic of a 3d3 electronic system. Atomic multiplet calculations
demonstrate the critical importance of charge transfer energy, Coulomb
correlation strength and hopping interaction in stabilizing this unusual
orbital polarized state likely connected to the bulk multiferroicity.
