Novel magnetic and ferroelectric behaviors observed in alpha Fe2O3 particles

TL;DR

This study reports the discovery of novel multiferroic properties in alpha Fe2O3 particles, showing both weak ferromagnetism and ferroelectricity at room temperature, indicating potential for multifunctional device applications.

Contribution

The paper demonstrates for the first time that alpha Fe2O3 particles exhibit simultaneous ferromagnetic and ferroelectric behaviors at room temperature, revealing their multiferroic nature.

Findings

Alpha Fe2O3 shows room-temperature weak ferromagnetism.

Alpha Fe2O3 exhibits

five-fold

Abstract

Alpha Fe2O3 powders have been prepared by the reduction reaction method with NaHB4 as reducing agent and followed a conventional sintering process. The XRD pattern with Rietveld refinement profile reveal that the prepared Fe2O3 with corundum structure (hematite). VSM loop exhibits obvious room-temperature weak ferromagnetism, a pinched hysteresis loop may introduced by the shape anisotropy effect. The simultaneous ferroelectric behavior of {\alpha}-Fe2O3 with "five-fold" ferroelectric hysteresis loops approves that this structured Fe2O3 can be known as a novel multiferroic material.