Open Readings 2021 • P6-16
STRUCTURAL AND MAGNETIC STUDY OF YFeO3-GdFeO3 SOLID SOLUTIONS
Dovydas Karoblis1, Aleksej Zarkov1, Kestutis Mazeika2, Dalis Baltrunas2, Gediminas Niaura3, 4, Aldona Beganskiene1, Aivaras Kareiva1
1 Institute of Chemistry, Vilnius University, Naugarduko 24, LT-03225 Vilnius, Lithuania
2 Center for Physical Sciences and Technology, Vilnius LT-02300, Lithuania
3 Department of Organic Chemistry, Center for Physical Sciences and Technology, Sauletekio Ave. 3, LT-10257, Vilnius, Lithuania
4 Institute of Chemical Physics, Faculty of Physics, Vilnius University, Sauletekio Ave. 3, LT-10257, Vilnius, Lithuania
[email protected]
Multiferroicity, where two or more kinds of ferroicities coexist in the same phase, have attracted a lot of attention in materials science and condensed matter physics in recent years [1]. This type of compounds can be applied in magnetic field sensing, data recording, as field probes etc. Different material classes, like borates (GdFe3(BO3)4) [2], boracites (Ni3B7O13I) [3] and most notably perovskites are known for possible concurrence of both magnetic and ferroelectric orders. Orthoferrites RFeO3 (where R=rare earth element) are perovskite-type materials with multiferroic properties.
YFeO3 orthoferrite has demonstrated ferroelectric and weak ferromagnetic characteristics at room temperature in bulk and thin film forms [4, 5]. Equivalently, GdFeO3 has showed improper ferroelectric ordering, antiferromagnetism and weak magnetoelectric coupling [6]. It was displayed that different $Y_{1-x}Gd_xFeO_3$ solid solutions compositions can lead to peculiar magnetic properties, with higher $Y^{3+}$ concentration leading to enhanced magnetization values [7].
In this study, YFeO3-GdFeO3 solid solutions were prepared for the first time by sol-gel synthesis. Thermogravimetric analysis was performed in order to determine possible calcination temperature and investigate thermal degradation of different composition precursor gels. X-ray diffraction, Mössbauer and Raman measurements were carried out to assess structural changes. Morphology of prepared samples was investigated with scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Lastly, magnetization studies were employed for all solid solutions.
Acknowledgments: This work was supported by a Research grant BUNACOMP (No. SMIP-19-9) from the Research Council of Lithuania.
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