Multiferroic coupling in nanoscale BiFeO3

TL;DR

This study demonstrates strong multiferroic coupling in nanoscale BiFeO3, with significant changes in ferroelectric polarization around the magnetic transition and under magnetic fields, highlighting potential for nanoscale device applications.

Contribution

It provides experimental evidence of multiferroic coupling in 22 nm BiFeO3 particles, confirming nanoscale multiferroic behavior.

Findings

30% polarization jump near T_N

7% polarization suppression under 5T magnetic field

Multiferroic coupling persists at nanoscale

Abstract

Using the results of x-ray and neutron diffraction experiments, we show that the ferroelectric polarization, in ~22 nm particles of BiFeO3, exhibits a jump by ~30% around the magnetic transition point T_N (~635 K) and a suppression by ~7% under 5T magnetic field at room temperature (<<T_N). These results confirm presence of strong multiferroic coupling even in nanoscale BiFeO3 and thus could prove to be quite useful for applications based on nanosized devices of BiFeO3.