Observation of magnetoelastic and magnetoelectric coupling in Sc doped BaFe12O19 due to spin-glass-like phase.

The present work reports magnetic, magnetoelastic and magnetoelectric (ME) response of scandium (Sc) doped barium hexaferrite, BaFe10Sc2O19. DC magnetization shows that partial substitution of non-magnetic Sc for Fe in barium hexaferrite results in a reduction of Curie temperature (T C) from 730 K known for the parent compound BaFe12O19 to 430 K. Magnetization measurements show that, in BaFe10Sc2O19, in addition to the magnetic transition at 250 K corresponding to longitudinal conical magnetic structure, another magnetic anomaly occurs in the vicinity of 50 K (T max). Ac susceptibility and magnetic relaxation show that the magnetic transition at T max is associated with spin glass like dynamics. Field dependence of this glassy transition temperature follows the Almeida-Thouless (A-T) line expected for spin glass-like behaviour. Unit cell volume obtained from the neutron diffraction (ND) measurements shows deviation from the Debye-Gruneisen behaviour below 50 K, revealing the magnetoelastic coupling. Existence of magnetoelastic coupling is also confirmed by Raman spectra as Raman modes show anomalous changes around 50 K and also indicates presence of lattice modulation. Further, the magnetic structure obtained from ND data shows that incommensurate longitudinal conical ferrimagnetic structure persists from 210 K to 3 K. The integrated intensity of (0 0 2) peak and magnetic moments undergoes a subtle change below 50 K that seems to favour coexistence of long range magnetic ordering and spin glass-like dynamics. Significant magneto-dielectric effect was observed around 50 K. Temperature dependent studies of dielectric constant and pyroelectric current indicate the presence of ferroelectricity even in zero magnetic field. Further, existence of ME coupling below 50 K is confirmed by temperature dependence of pyroelectric current under magnetic fields up to 70 kOe. In short, this work identifies a new magnetic anomaly around 50 K, which is spin-glass-like inducing magnetoelastic and ME anomalies, even in the absence of external magnetic fields.

Pyrocurrent anomalies and intrinsic magnetodielectric behavior near room temperature in Li2Ni2Mo3O12, a compound with distorted honeycomb and spin-chains.

Keeping current interests to identify materials with intrinsic magnetodielectric behaviour near room temperature and with novel pyroelectric current anomalies, we report temperature and magnetic-field dependent behavior of complex dielectric permittivity and pyroelectric current for an oxide, Li2Ni2Mo3O12, containing magnetic ions with (distorted) honey-comb and chain arrangement and ordering magnetically below 8 K. The dielectric data reveal the existence of relaxor ferroelectricity behaviour in the range 160-240 K and there are corresponding Raman mode anomalies as well in this temperature range. Pyrocurrent behavior is also consistent with this interpretation, with the pyrocurrent peak-temperature interestingly correlating with the poling temperature. 7Li NMR offer an evidence for crystallographic disorder intrinsic to this compound and we therefore conclude that such a disorder is apparently responsible for the randomness of local electric field leading to relaxor ferroelectric property. Another observation of emphasis is that there is a notable decrease in the dielectric constant with the application of magnetic field to the tune of about -2.4% at 300 K, with the magnitude varying marginally with temperature. Small loss factor values validate the intrinsic behaviour of the magnetodielectric effect at room temperature.

Magnetic behavior of metallic kagome lattices, Tb3Ru4Al12 and Er3Ru4Al12.

We report the magnetic behavior of two intermetallic-based kagome lattices, Tb3Ru4Al12 and Er3Ru4Al12, crystallizing in the Gd3Ru4Al2-type hexagonal crystal structure, by measurements in the range 1.8-300 K with bulk experimental techniques (ac and dc magnetization, heat capacity, and magnetoresistance). The main finding is that the Tb compound, known to order antiferromagnetically below (T N =) 22 K, shows glassy characteristics at lower temperatures ([Formula: see text]15 K), thus characterizing this compound as a re-entrant spin-glass. The data reveal that the glassy phase is quite complex and is of a cluster type. Since glassy behavior was not seen for the Gd analog in the past literature, this finding on the Tb compound emphasizes that this kagome family could provide an opportunity to explore the role of higher-order interactions (such as quadrupole) in bringing out magnetic frustration. Additional findings reported here for this compound are: (i) The plots of temperature dependence of magnetic susceptibility and electrical resistivity data in the range 12-20 K, just below T N , are found to be hysteretic leading to a magnetic phase in this intermediate temperature range, mimicking disorder-broadened first-order magnetic phase transitions; (ii) features attributable to an interesting magnetic phase co-existence phenomenon in the isothermal magnetoresistance in zero field, after travelling across metamagnetic transition fields, are observed. With respect to the Er compound, we do not find any evidence for long-range magnetic ordering down to 2 K, but this compound appears to be on the verge of magnetic order at 2 K.

Spin-glass behavior and pyroelectric anomalies in a new lithium-based oxide, Li3FeRuO5.

The results of dc and ac magnetization, heat capacity, (57)Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy, dielectric, pyroelectric current and isothermal magneto-capacitance measurements of a recently reported lithium-rich layered oxide, Li3FeRuO5, related to LiCoO2-type (rhombohedral, space group R3[combining macron]m), are presented. The results reveal that the compound undergoes spin-glass freezing at 15 K. There is a peak around 34 K in pyroelectric data, which cannot be attributed to ferroelectricity, but to the phenomenon of thermally stimulated depolarization current. As revealed by magnetocapacitance data above and below the magnetic ordering temperature, magnetic and electric dipoles appear to be coupled, thereby offering evidence for magnetodielectric coupling.

A rock-salt-type Li-based oxide, Li3Ni2RuO6, exhibiting a chaotic ferrimagnetism with cluster spin-glass dynamics and thermally frozen charge carriers.

The area of research to discover new Li containing materials and to understand their physical properties has been of constant interest due to applications potential for rechargeable batteries. Here, we present the results of magnetic investigations on a Li compound, Li3Ni2RuO6, which was believed to be a ferrimagnet below 80 K. While our neutron diffraction (ND) and isothermal magnetization (M) data support ferrimagnetism, more detailed magnetic studies establish that this ferrimagnetic phase exhibits some features similar to spin-glasses. In addition, we find another broad magnetic anomaly around 40-55 K in magnetic susceptibility (χ), attributable to cluster spin-glass phenomenon. Gradual dominance of cluster spin-glass dynamics with a decrease of temperature (T) and the apparent spread in freezing temperature suggest that the ferrimagnetism of this compound is a chaotic one. The absence of a unique freezing temperature for a crystalline material is interesting. In addition, pyroelectric current (Ipyro) data reveals a feature in the range 40-50 K, attributable to thermally stimulated depolarization current. We hope this finding motivates future work to explore whether there is any intriguing correlation of such a feature with cluster spin-glass dynamics. We attribute these magnetic and electric dipole anomalies to the crystallographic disorder, intrinsic to this compound.