Light-induced size changes in BiFeO3 crystals

TL;DR

This study demonstrates for the first time that visible light can induce significant, rapid size changes in BiFeO3 crystals at room temperature, revealing a new coupling between optical and mechanical properties in multiferroic materials.

Contribution

It reports the discovery of light-induced dimensional changes in BiFeO3 crystals, highlighting a novel photostrictive effect that depends on light polarization and magnetic fields.

Findings

Light causes measurable size changes in BiFeO3 crystals.

The effect has a magnitude of about 10e-5 and responds within 0.1 seconds.

The effect varies with light polarization and magnetic field application.

Abstract

Multifunctional oxides are promising materials because of their fundamental physical properties as well as their potential in applications1. Among these materials, multiferroics exhibiting ferroelectricity and magnetism are good candidates for spin electronic applications using the magnetoelectric effect, which couples magnetism and ferroelecticity. Furthermore, because ferroelectrics are insulators with a reasonable bandgap, photons can efficiently interact with electrons leading to photoconduction or photovoltaic effects. However, until now, coupling of light with mechanical degrees of freedom has been elusive, although ferroelasticity is a well-known property of these materials. Here, we report on the observation, for the first time, of a substantial visiblelight- induced change in the dimensions of BiFeO3 crystals at room temperature. The relative light-induced photostrictive effect is of the order of 10e-5 with response times below 0.1s. It depends on the polarization of incident light as well as applied magnetic fields. This opens the perspective of combining mechanical, magnetic, electric and optical functionalities in future generations of remote switchable devices.