Experimental evidence for an intermediate phase in the multiferroic YMnO3

TL;DR

This study provides experimental evidence of an intermediate phase in YMnO3 between its ferroelectric and centrosymmetric phases, revealing two distinct high-temperature phase transitions through synchrotron X-ray diffraction, thermal analysis, and dilatometry.

Contribution

First experimental identification of the high-temperature phase transitions and intermediate phase in YMnO3 using multiple analytical techniques.

Findings

Two phase transitions at approximately 1100K and 1350K.

Existence of an intermediate phase between ferroelectric and centrosymmetric phases.

First detailed characterization of high-temperature phases in YMnO3.

Abstract

We have studied YMnO$_{3}$ by high-temperature synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction, and have carried out differential thermal analysis and dilatometry on a single crystal sample. These experiments show two phase transitions at about 1100K and 1350K, respectively. This demonstrates the existence of an intermediate phase between the room temperature ferroelectric and the high temperature centrosymmetric phase. This study identifies for the first time the different high-temperature phase transitions in YMnO$_{3}$.