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At least 757 records · Page 42

Significantly enhanced ferroelectricity and magnetic properties in (Sr{sub 0.5}Ca{sub 0.5})TiO{sub 3}-modified BiFeO{sub 3} ceramics

BiFeO{sub 3} multiferroic ceramics were modified by introducing (Sr{sub 0.5}Ca{sub 0.5})TiO{sub 3} to form solid solutions. The single phase structure was easy to be obtained in Bi{sub 1−x}(Sr{sub 0.5}Ca{sub 0.5}){sub x}Fe{sub 1−x}Ti{sub x}O{sub 3} (x = 0.2, 0.25, 0.3, and 0.4) solid solutions. Rietveld refinement of X-ray diffraction data revealed a transition from rhombohedral R3c (x = 0.2, 0.25, and 0.3) to orthorhombic Pnma (x = 0.4). Current density-field (J-E) characteristics indicated that the leakage current density was reduced by three orders of magnitude in Bi{sub 1−x}(Sr{sub 0.5}Ca{sub 0.5}){sub x}Fe{sub 1−x}Ti{sub x}O{sub 3} ceramics. Both the ferroelectricity and magnetic properties were significantly enhanced in the present solid solutions. P-E hysteresis loop measurements with dynamic leakage current compensation methods showed the significantly enhanced ferroelectric properties for x = 0.25 and 0.3 and the paraelectric behavior for x = 0.4. The best ferromagnetic characteristics were achieved in the composition of x = 0.25, where the saturated M-H loop was determined with M{sub r} = 34.8 emu/mol. The improvement of ferroelectricity was mainly due to the suppressed leakage current, and the enhanced magnetism originated from the partial substitution of Fe{sup 3+} by Ti{sup 4+}, which destroyed its previous spiral structure to allow the appearance of a macroscopic magnetization.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Effect of isovalent non-magnetic Fe-site doping on the electronic structure and spontaneous polarization of BiFeO{sub 3}

We report the results of our first-principles calculations on the effect of isovalent, non-magnetic, Al{sup 3+} ion doping on the electronic structure and spontaneous polarization of multiferroic BiFeO{sub 3}. Our calculations reveal that Al{sup 3+} doping in BiFeO{sub 3} results in the reduction of Fe–O–Fe bond angle, leading to the weakening of antiferromagnetic superexchange interaction, further substantiated by the reduction of exchange interaction constant with increasing doping level. Lowering of well-depth is suggestive of reduced switching potential and improved P-E loop with lowered coercivity. Chemical bonding analysis by electron localization function shows that cation–oxygen bonding is of mixed ionic–covalent character, with marginal increase in the covalent character with increasing doping concentration. Large spontaneous polarization of undoped BiFeO{sub 3} is retained with lower doping level (6.25%), while for higher doping content (31.25%), the spontaneous polarization is reduced, primarily due to larger c/a ratio at higher doping level.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Magnetism switching and band-gap narrowing in Ni-doped PbTiO{sub 3} thin films

Ions doping-driven structural phase transition accompanied by magnetism switching and band-gap narrowing effects has been observed in PbTi{sub 1−x}Ni{sub x}O{sub 3−δ} (xPTNO, x = 0.00, 0.06, and 0.33) thin films. With the increase of x, the xPTNO thin films exhibit not only a phase transition from the pseudotetragonal structure to a centrosymmetric cubic structure but also a drastic decrease of grain size. Moreover, the as-grown Ni-doped PbTiO{sub 3} (PTO) thin films show obvious room-temperature ferromagnetism and an increased saturation magnetization with increasing the Ni content, in contrast to undoped PTO, which shows diamagnetism. A bound magnetic polaron model was proposed to understand the observed ferromagnetic behavior of PTO-derived perovskite thin films. Furthermore, the 0.33PTNO thin film presents a narrowed band-gap, much smaller than that of PTO, which is attributed to new states of both the highest occupied molecular orbital and the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital in an electronic structure with the presence of Ni. These findings may open up a route to explore promising perovskite oxides as candidate materials for use in multiferroics and solar-energy devices.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Hybrid improper ferroelectricity in Ruddlesden-Popper Ca{sub 3}(Ti,Mn){sub 2}O{sub 7} ceramics

The hybrid improper ferroelectricity (HIF) has been proposed as a promising way to create multiferroic materials with strong magnetoelectric coupling by the first-principle calculation, and the experimental evidences of HIF in Ruddlesden-Poper Ca{sub 3}(Ti{sub 1−x}Mn{sub x}){sub 2}O{sub 7} (x = 0, 0.05, 0.1, and 0.15) ceramics have been shown in the present work. The room temperature ferroelectric hysteresis loops are observed in these ceramics, and a polar orthorhombic structure with two oxygen tilting modes has been confirmed by the X-ray powder diffraction. A first-order phase transition around 1100 K in Ca{sub 3}Ti{sub 2}O{sub 7} was evidenced, and the temperatures of phase transitions decrease linearly with increasing of the contents of Mn{sup 4+} ions. Based on the result of first-principle calculations, the polarization should be reversed by switching through the mediated Amam phase in Ca{sub 3}Ti{sub 2}O{sub 7} ceramics.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Improved ferroelectric polarization of V-doped Bi{sub 6}Fe{sub 2}Ti{sub 3}O{sub 18} thin films prepared by a chemical solution deposition

We prepared V-doped Bi{sub 6}Fe{sub 2}Ti{sub 3}O{sub 18} thin films on Pt/Ti/SiO{sub 2}/Si (100) substrates by using a chemical solution deposition route and investigated the doping effect on the microstructure, dielectric, leakage, and ferroelectric properties of Bi{sub 6}Fe{sub 2}Ti{sub 3}O{sub 18} thin films. The Bi{sub 5.97}Fe{sub 2}Ti{sub 2.91}V{sub 0.09}O{sub 18} thin film exhibits improved dielectric properties, leakage current, and ferroelectric properties. The incorporation of vanadium resulted in a substantially enhanced remnant polarization (2P{sub r}) over 30 μC/cm{sup 2} in Bi{sub 5.97}Fe{sub 2}Ti{sub 2.91}V{sub 0.09}O{sub 18} thin film compared with 10 μC/cm{sup 2} in Bi{sub 6}Fe{sub 2}Ti{sub 3}O{sub 18} thin film. It is demonstrated that the improved properties may stem from the improvement of crystallinity of the films with the contribution of suppressed oxygen vacancies and decreased mobility of oxygen vacancies caused by the V-doping. The results will provide a guidance to optimize the ferroelectric properties in Bi{sub 6}Fe{sub 2}Ti{sub 3}O{sub 18} thin films by chemical solution deposition, which is important to further explore single-phase multiferroics in the n = 5 Aurivillius thin films.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Interface engineering in epitaxial growth of layered oxides via a conducting layer insertion

There is a long-standing challenge in the fabrication of layered oxide epitaxial films due to their thermodynamic phase-instability and the large stacking layer number. Recently, the demand for high-quality thin films is strongly pushed by their promising room-temperature multiferroic properties. Here, we find that by inserting a conducting and lattice matched LaNiO{sub 3} buffer layer, high quality m = 5 Bi{sub 6}FeCoTi{sub 3}O{sub 18} epitaxial films can be fabricated using the laser molecular beam epitaxy, in which the atomic-scale sharp interface between the film and the metallic buffer layer explains the enhanced quality. The magnetic and ferroelectric properties of the high quality Bi{sub 6}FeCoTi{sub 3}O{sub 18} films are studied. This study demonstrates that insertion of the conducting layer is a powerful method in achieving high quality layered oxide thin films, which opens the door to further understand the underline physics and to develop new devices.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Disparity of secondary electron emission in ferroelectric domains of YMnO{sub 3}

The applications of multiferroic materials require our understanding about the behaviors of domains with different polarization directions. Taking advantage of the scanning electron microscope, we investigate the polar surface of single crystal YMnO{sub 3} sample in secondary electron (SE) mode. By slowing down the scanning speed of electron beam, the negative surface potential of YMnO{sub 3} can be realized, and the domain contrast can be correspondingly changed. Under this experimental condition, with the help of a homemade Faraday cup, the difference of intrinsic SE emission coefficients of antiparallel domains is measured to be 0.12 and the downward polarization domains show a larger SE emission ability. Our results indicate that the total SE emission of this material can be altered by changing the ratio of the antiparallel domains, which provide an avenue for device design with this kind of materials.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Frequency-dependent ferroelectric behavior of BaMn3Ti4O14.25 at room temperature

We report the activation field and selective frequency-dependent ferroelectric behavior of BaMn3Ti4O14.25 (BMT-134) at room temperature. BMT-134, a recently discovered multiferroic complex oxide, exhibits antiferromagnetic and ferroelectric behavior and belongs to the hollandite crystal class. The microstructure can be manipulated through processing conditions to prepare a nanocrystalline textured tablet. We measured polarization-electric field (P-E) hysteresis loops and strain-electric field butterfly loops as a function of frequency in order to investigate the AC dynamics of domain switching and strain behavior. Under an electric field loading condition, a clear hysteresis loop of the electric field-displacement curve is obtained at 50 Hz, indicating that room temperature ferroelectricity is attainable under the right processing conditions. When the frequency is increased to 500 Hz, the coercive field also increases, until the frequency reaches 5 kHz, at which point the electric field versus electric displacement becomes linear indicating the limit of domain switching at high frequency.

Hossain, Muhammad E.↗

Preface to Special Topic: Piezoresponse Force Microscopy

Almost two decades beyond the inception of piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM) and the seminal papers by G€uthner and Dransfeld1 and Gruverman et al., the technique has become the prevailing approach for nanoscale functional characterization of polar materials and has been extended to the probing of other electromechanical effects through the advent of electrochemical strain microscopy (ESM). This focus issue celebrates some of the recent advances in the field and offers a wider outlook of polar materials and their overall characterization. In this paper, we cover topics that include discussions of the properties of traditional ferroelectrics, such as lead zirconate titanate (PZT) and lithium niobate, relaxorferroelectrics, as well as more “exotic” ferroelectric oxides such as hafnia, ferroelectric biological matter, and multiferroic materials. Technique-oriented contributions include papers on the coupling of PFM with other characterization methods such as x-ray diffraction (XRD) and superconducting quantum interface device (SQUID), in addition to considerations on the open questions on the electromechanical response in biased scanning probe microscopy (SPM) techniques, including the effects of the laser spot placement on the readout cantilever displacement, the influence of the tip on the creation of the domain shapes, and the impact of ionic and electronic dynamics on the observed nanoscale hysteretic phenomena.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Electric field-induced tuning of magnetism in PbFe{sub 0.5}Nb{sub 0.5}O{sub 3} at room temperature

We study the influence of electrical poling, carried out at room temperature, on the structure and magnetism of Pb(Fe{sub 0.5}Nb{sub 0.5})O{sub 3} by analyzing the differences observed in structural and magnetic properties before and after the electrical poling. The changes observed in magnetization of Pb(Fe{sub 0.5}Nb{sub 0.5})O{sub 3} before and after electrical poling exhibit considerably strong converse magnetoelectric effect at room temperature. In addition, the strengthening of Fe/Nb-O bond due to electrical poling is discussed on the basis of Raman spectral studies and analysis of neutron diffraction patterns. The potential tunability of magnetization with electrical poling can be an ideal tool for realization of application potential of this multiferroic material.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Ferroelectricity and magnetoelectric coupling in h-YbMnO{sub 3}: Spin reorientation and defect effect

Low-temperature magnetic and electric properties in hexagonal multiferroic compound YbMnO{sub 3} were studied. The Mn{sup 3+} spin moments order at T{sub N} = 85 K and reoriented around 43.5 K, leading to the magnetic phase transition from B{sub 2}(P6{sub 3}cm) → A{sub 2}(P6{sub 3}cm). The concomitant ferroelectric polarization is observed and explained microscopically by the destruction of initial symmetric relationship of the polarization between the upper and lower half of the magnetic unit cell. The asymmetry of the polarization vs temperature curves under opposite poling voltage revealed the pinning effect of the defects on the electrical polarization.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Influence of piezoelectric strain on the Raman spectra of BiFeO 3 films deposited on PMN-PT substrates

In this study, BiFeO 3 epitaxial thin films were deposited on piezoelectric 0.72Pb(Mg 1/3 Nb 2/3 )O 3 -0.28PbTiO 3 (PMN-PT) substrates with a conductive buffer layer (La 0.7 Sr 0.3 MnO 3 or SrRuO 3 ) using pulsed laser deposition. The calibration of the strain values induced by the electric field applied on the piezoelectric PMN-PT substrates was realised using X-Ray diffraction measurements. The method of piezoelectrically induced strain allows to obtain a quantitative correlation between strain and the shift of the Raman-active phonons, ruling out the influence of extrinsic factors, such as growth conditions, crystalline quality of substrates, or film thickness. Using the Poisson number for BiFeO 3 one can determine the volume change induced by strain, and therefore the Gr neisen parameters for specific phonon modes.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Effect of crystal structure and cationic order on phonon modes across ferroelectric phase transformation in Pb(Fe{sub 0.5-x}Sc{sub x}Nb{sub 0.5})O{sub 3} bulk ceramics

Pb(Fe{sub 0.5-x}Sc{sub x}Nb{sub 0.5})O{sub 3} [(PFSN) (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.5)] multiferroic relaxors were synthesized and the temperature dependence of phonon modes across ferroelectric to paraelectric transition was studied. With varying Sc content from x = 0 to 0.25 the structure remains monoclinic and with further addition (x = 0.3 - 0.5) the structure transforms into rhombohedral symmetry. Structural refinement studies showed that the change in crystal structure from monoclinic to rhombohedral symmetry involves a volume increment of 34-36%. Associated changes in the tolerance factor (1.024 ≤ t ≤ 0.976) and bond angles were observed. Structure assisted B′-B″ cation ordering was confirmed through the superlattice reflections in selected area electron diffraction (SAED) pattern of Pb(Sc{sub 0.5}Nb{sub 0.5})O{sub 3} (x = 0.5). Cation ordering is also evident from the evolution of Pb-O phonon mode in Raman spectra of compositions with rhombohedral symmetry (x ≥ 0.3). The high temperature Raman scattering studies show that the B-localized mode [F{sub 1u}, ∼250 cm{sup −1}] and BO{sub 6} octahedral rotational mode [F{sub 1g}, ∼200 cm{sup −1}], both originating from polar nano regions (PNRs) behave like coupled phonon modes in rhombohedral symmetry. However, in monoclinic symmetry they behave independently across the transition. Softening of B localized mode across the transition followed by the hardening for all compositions confirms the diffusive nature of the ferroelectric transformation. The presence of correlation between the B localized and BO{sub 6} rotational modes introduces a weak relaxor feature for systems with rhombohedral symmetry in PFSN ceramics, which was confirmed from the macroscopic dielectric studies.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Resistive switching and voltage induced modulation of tunneling magnetoresistance in nanosized perpendicular organic spin valves

Nanoscale multifunctional perpendicular organic spin valves have been fabricated. The devices based on an La{sub 0.7}Sr{sub 0.3}MnO{sub 3}/Alq3/Co trilayer show resistive switching of up to 4-5 orders of magnitude and magnetoresistance as high as -70% the latter even changing sign when voltage pulses are applied. This combination of phenomena is typically observed in multiferroic tunnel junctions where it is attributed to magnetoelectric coupling between a ferromagnet and a ferroelectric material. Modeling indicates that here the switching originates from a modification of the La{sub 0.7}Sr{sub 0.3}MnO{sub 3} surface. This modification influences the tunneling of charge carriers and thus both the electrical resistance and the tunneling magnetoresistance which occurs at pinholes in the organic layer.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Neutron diffraction, Mössbauer and ferroelectric studies on magnetoelectric Pb{sub 0.9}Bi{sub 0.1}Fe{sub 0.55}Nb{sub 0.45}O{sub 3}

Pb{sub 0.9}Bi{sub 0.1}Fe{sub 0.55}Nb{sub 0.45}O{sub 3} (PBFNO) multiferroic materialwas synthesized through single step solid state reaction method with low sintering (800 °C for 3 hour) temperature. Single phase was confirmed through the X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Neutron diffraction (ND) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) measurements. Rietveld refinement was performed on room temperature (RT) XRD and ND data by considering monoclinic structure with Cm space group. The obtained cell parameters from the refinement of ND data are a = 5.666(3) Å, b = 5.667(4) Å, c = 4.017(2) Å and β = 89.943(4)° and are in good agreement with the XRD refinement data. The RT Mössbauer spectroscopy was used to investigate the magnetic ordering of PBFNO and it shows the paramagnetic behavior with the presence of Fe{sup 3+} states. RT ferroelectric (P-E) loops confirmed the existence of ferroelectric ordering in the PBFNO. The RT ferroelectric and antiferromagnetic properties are the evidence of magnetoelectric coupling.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Effect of sintering temperature on the optical properties of BiFeO{sub 3} nanoparticles

BiFeO{sub 3} is a multiferroic material which exhibits excellent optical properties. BiFeO{sub 3} nanoparticles are synthesized by using sol-gel method. The prepared samples are sintered at 500°C, 600°C, 700°C, 800°C and 850°C. In this paper, the effect of sintering temperature on the optical properties in BiFeO{sub 3} nanoparticles is studied. Field emission electron microscopy (FESEM) images show that particles are nearly spherical in shape. It is found that the particles size increases from 37 nm to 51 nm with increasing the sintering temperature. FESEM images also reveal a homogenous size distribution of nanoparticles. All the functional groups are indexed in the Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) spectra. It is found that Fe-O stretching peaks are appeared in the wave number range 447 and 507 cm{sup −1}. The value of energy band gap are found 2.14, 2.26, 2.30, 2.36, and 2.54 eV for the samples sintered at 500°C, 600°C, 700°C, 800°C and 850°C respectively. Thus, the increase in band gap with increasing temperature has been observed. The present samples can be used as photo-catalyst, in non-volatile memories and to make spintronics devices.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗

Multifunctionality of nanocrystalline lanthanum ferrite

Nanocrystalline lanthanum ferrite has been synthesized by adopting modified Pechini route. No evidence of impurity or secondary phase has been detected up to the detection of error limit of X-ray diffractometer (XRD). Rietveld refinement of X-ray diffraction pattern reveals orthorhombic crystal system with space group Pnma (62).Crystallite size and lattice strain was found to be ∼42.8nm and 0.306% respectively. Optical band gap was found to be 2.109 eV, by UV-Visible diffused reflectance spectrum (DRS). Brunauer-Emmet-Teller (BET) surface area was found to be ∼3.45 m{sup 2}/g. Magnetization-hysteresis (M-H) loop was recorded at room temperature (300K) reveals weak ferromagnetism in Nanocrystalline lanthanum ferrite. The weak ferromagnetism in lanthanum ferrite is due to the uncompensated antiferromagnetic spin ordering. Ferroelectric loop hysteresis observed at room temperature at 100Hz depicts the presence of ferroelectric ordering in LaFeO{sub 3}.Simultanious presence of magnetic and ferroelectric ordering at room temperature makes it suitable candidate of Multiferroic family.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Effect of magnetic field on noncollinear magnetism in classical bilinear-biquadratic Heisenberg model

We present a Monte Carlo simulation study of a bilinear-biquadratic Heisenberg model on a two-dimensional square lattice in the presence of an external magnetic field. The study is motivated by the relevance of this simple model to the non-collinear magnetism and the consequent ferroelectric behavior in the recently discovered high-temperature multiferroic, cupric oxide (CuO). We show that an external magnetic field stabilizes a non-coplanar magnetic phase, which is characterized by a finite ferromagnetic moment along the direction of the applied magnetic field and a spiral spin texture if projected in the plane perpendicular to the magnetic field. Real-space analysis highlights a coexistence of non-collinear regions with ferromagnetic clusters. The results are also supported by simple variational calculations.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗