Observation of phonons in multiferroic BiFeO(3) single crystals by Raman scattering

Novel Dynamical Magnetoelectric Effects in Multiferroic BiFeO_{3}

An atomistic effective Hamiltonian scheme is employed within molecular dynamics simulations to investigate how the electrical polarization and magnetization of the multiferroic BiFeO_{3} respond to time-dependent ac magnetic fields of various frequencies, as well as to reveal the frequency dependency of the dynamical (quadratic) magnetoelectric coefficient. We found the occurrence of vibrations having phonon frequencies in both the time dependency of the electrical polarization and magnetization (for any applied ac frequency), therefore making such vibrations of electromagnonic nature, when the homogeneous strain of the system is frozen (case 1). Moreover, the quadratic magnetoelectric coupling constant is monotonic and almost dispersionless in the sub-THz range in this case 1. In contrast, when the homogeneous strain can fully relax (case 2), two additional low-frequency and strain-mediated oscillations emerge in the time-dependent behavior of the polarization and magnetization, which result in resonances in the quadratic magnetoelectric coefficient. Such additional oscillations consist of a mixing between acoustic phonons, optical phonons, and magnons, and reflect the existence of a new quasiparticle that can be coined an "electroacoustic magnon." This latter finding can prompt experimentalists to shape their samples to take advantage of, and tune, the magnetostrictive-induced mechanical resonance frequency, in order to achieve large dynamical magnetoelectric couplings.

Control of Multiferroic properties in BiFeO3 nanoparticles

BiFeO3 (BFO) nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized using the sol-gel method at different calcination temperatures from 400 °C to 600 °C. XRD studies have confirmed that all BFO NPs show distorted rhombohedral crystals that match the R3c space group. We found evidence of local structural strain that develops with increasing particle size as suggested by TEM and Raman spectroscopy measurements. Magnetic measurements suggest that NPs have two distinct regimes: a ferromagnetic-like one at low temperatures and a superparamagnetic-like one at room temperature. The crossover temperature increases with NPs size, suggesting a size-dependent blocking magnetic regime. Similarly, local piezoelectric measurements at room temperature in single NP have confirmed a ferroelectric order with a NP size-dependent d33 coefficient. An analysis of both the ferroelectric and the magnetic results suggest that ferromagnetism and ferroelectricity coexist at room temperature in NPs. Our results lead to the possibility of tailoring the ferroic order in multifunctional materials by means of NP size.

Ferroelastic domain identification in BiFeO3 crystals using Raman spectroscopy

Multiferroic BiFeO₃ crystals were investigated by means of micro-Raman spectroscopy using the laser wavelengths of 442 nm (resonant conditions) and 633 nm (non-resonant conditions). The azimuthal angle dependence of the intensity of the Raman modes allowed their symmetry assignment. The experimental data are consistent with a simulation based on Raman tensor formalism. Mixed symmetries were taken into account, considering the orientation of the crystal optic axis along a pseudo-cubic <111> direction. The strong anisotropic intensity variation of some of the polar Raman modes was used for line scans and mappings in order to identify ferroelastic domain patterns. The line scans performed with different excitation wavelengths and hence different information depths indicate a tilt of the domain walls with respect to the sample surface. The domain distribution found by Raman spectroscopy is in very good agreement with the finding of electron back scattering diffraction.

Atomistic molecular dynamic simulations of multiferroics

A first-principles-based approach is developed to simulate dynamical properties, including complex permittivity and permeability in the GHz-THz range, of multiferroics at finite temperatures. It includes both structural degrees of freedom and magnetic moments as dynamic variables in Newtonian and Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert (LLG) equations within molecular dynamics, respectively, with the couplings between these variables being incorporated. The use of a damping coefficient and of the fluctuation field in the LLG equations is required to obtain equilibrated magnetic properties at any temperature. No electromagnon is found in the spin-canted structure of BiFeO3. On the other hand, two magnons with very different frequencies are predicted via the use of this method. The smallest-in-frequency magnon corresponds to oscillations of the weak ferromagnetic vector in the basal plane being perpendicular to the polarization while the second magnon corresponds to magnetic dipoles going in and out of this basal plane. The large value of the frequency of this second magnon is caused by static couplings between magnetic dipoles with electric dipoles and oxygen octahedra tiltings.

Structural, magnetic, and electrical studies on polycrystalline transition-metal-doped BiFeO(3) thin films

We have synthesized a range of transition-metal-doped BiFeO(3) thin films on conducting silicon substrates using a spin-coating technique from metal-organic precursor solutions. Bismuth, iron and transition-metal-organic solutions were mixed in the appropriate ratios to produce 3% transition-metal-doped samples. X-ray diffraction studies show that the samples annealed in a nitrogen atmosphere crystallize in a rhombohedrally distorted BiFeO(3) structure with no evidence for any ferromagnetic secondary phase formation. We find evidence for the disappearance of the 404 cm(-1) Raman mode for certain dopants indicative of structural distortions. The saturation magnetization of these BiFeO(3) films has been found to increase on doping with transition metal ions, reaching a maximum value of 8.5 emu cm(-3) for the Cr-doped samples. However, leakage current measurements find that the resistivity of the films typically decreases with transition metal doping. We find no evidence for any systematic variation of the electric or magnetic properties of BiFeO(3) depending on the transition metal dopant, suggesting that these properties are determined mainly by extrinsic effects arising from defects or grain boundaries.

Theoretical study of the phonon spectra of multiferroic BiFeO(3) nanoparticles

The phonon properties of multiferroic BiFeO(3) (BFO) nanoparticles are studied using a Green's function technique on the basis of the Heisenberg and the transverse Ising models, taking into account anharmonic spin-phonon and phonon-phonon interaction terms. The phonon spectrum is obtained for different exchange, magnetoelectric, and spin-phonon interaction constants. The influence of temperature, surface and size effects on the phonon energy and damping is discussed. The phonon energy and damping in BFO nanoparticles are greater in comparison to those in bulk BFO. The strong spin-phonon interactions lead to anomalies in the phonon spectrum around the magnetic and ferroelectric phase transitions. The influence of an applied magnetic field is studied, too. The predictions are consistent with experimental results.