Skip to content
Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin, Homepage HZB Science Blog
Science at HZBblog
Primary Navigation Menu
Menu
  • About us
  • → Campus blog

Experiments at neutron source BER II: new insights into multiferroics

By: Antonia Roetger
On: 2017-08-07
In: Neutrons
Tagged: Condensed Matter, Magnetism, Multiferroics, Phase Transitions

An international team has examined pristine and slightly doped bismuth ferrite using experimental data obtained at HZB. The research shows the sequence of serial and trigger-type phase transitions, the temperature-dependent behavior of the order parameters, and the corresponding susceptibilities to external stimuli. 

The material:

Multiferroics are materials that exhibit multiple types of ferroic ordering, such as ferromagnetism and ferroelectricity, simultaneously. BiFeO3 (BFO) is the one of the rare multiferroics with a strong ferroelectric polarization, antiferromagnetism at room temperature as well as conduction and magnetotransport at domain walls. This makes it a candidate for a range of applications.

The question:

What are the underlying physical mechanisms responsible for the multiferroic properties of bismuth ferrite?

The results:

Based on new X-ray and neutron diffraction experiments, the team could construct a “Landau–Ginzburg” thermodynamic potential, and the corresponding phase diagram for pristine and slightly doped bismuth ferrite. A strong biquadratic antiferrodistortive-type coupling is the key to a quantitative description as well as for the prediction of novel intermediate structural phases.

The method:

The research was performed using the fine resolution powder diffractometer E9 at BERII to obtain high resolution diffraction data at different temperatures. Utilizing this diffractometer has allowed fast acquisition of the diffraction data which is critical for high temperature measurements where the samples become unstable due to a decomposition process. The international experimental team was heavily supported by Dr. Alexandra Franz (EM-ASD), the E9 instrument scientist.

The publication: The research is published in npj Computational Materials (2017) and has been supported by the Russian Science Foundation (project # 15-19-20038)

“Thermodynamic potential and phase diagram for multiferroic bismuth ferrite (BiFeO3)”, Dmitry V. Karpinsky, Eugene A. Eliseev, Fei Xue, Maxim V. Silibin, Alexandra Franz, Maya D. Glinchuk, Igor O. Troyanchuk, Sergey A. Gavrilov, Venkatraman Gopalan, Long-Qing Chen & Anna N. Morozovska

 doi: 10.1038/s41524-017-0021-3

2017-08-07
Next Post: Is annealing an improvement in kesterites?

Follow Us

Keywords

#BESSYBeamlinePortraits Accelerator Physics atomic physics BESSY II BESSY VSR careers communication Condensed Matter Cooperation corona Culture dipcoating electron capture Energymaterials Europe Fuel Cells Health international exchange internships Life Mobility Nanomaterials Perovskite Lab Perovskites Phase Transitions PhD PhDlife physics Programming protein crystallography quantum research scientist solar cells Solar Fuels student Students Summer Summer Project summerstudents supervisor switching synchrotron Undulator Workshop

Recent posts HZBblog Science

  • Beyond research: Capturing science through illustrations 2023-02-08
  • Highlight of the year 2022: What do the numbers say? 2022-12-22
  • One week for four problems – 2022 Hackathon@HZB 2022-11-29

Recent Comments

  • Matt Mayer on Summer students @HZB – a restart of a great programme
  • Silvia on Why Is Berlin a City With an AMAZING Public Transport ?
  • Silvia on How Rough Plans yield the most Concrete Outcomes
  • Arshia on Life Beyond Fears
  • Ana on Life Beyond Fears

Archives

New on HZBblog campus

  • Kinder sind voll mein Ding

  • Freier Kopf und volle Konzentration – eine Chemikerin musiziert im Orchester

  • Jennifer Bierbaum unterstützt “Kinder lesen Katzen vor”

Related Posts

The "Witches Cauldron in Materials Science"
Users at BESSY II: Nafion, the talented membrane for fuel cells and 4D-printing
First "Freigeist"-Workshop at HZB “Dynamics of Energy Transfer on the Nanoscale”
Back in the lab: Michael Tovar

Links

Contribution feed (RSS)
Comments as RSS

Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin

Imprint, Data protection
www.helmholtz-berlin.de

Logo Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin