Experimental Search for High Curie Temperature Piezoelectric Ceramics with Combinatorial Approaches Wei Hu Iowa State University

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Experimental Search for High Curie Temperature Piezoelectric Ceramics with Combinatorial Approaches Wei Hu Iowa State University Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Graduate Theses and Dissertations Dissertations 2011 Experimental search for high Curie temperature piezoelectric ceramics with combinatorial approaches Wei Hu Iowa State University Follow this and additional works at: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/etd Part of the Materials Science and Engineering Commons Recommended Citation Hu, Wei, "Experimental search for high Curie temperature piezoelectric ceramics with combinatorial approaches" (2011). Graduate Theses and Dissertations. 10246. https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/etd/10246 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Dissertations at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Iowa State University Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Experimental search for high Curie temperature piezoelectric ceramics with combinatorial approaches By Wei Hu A dissertation submitted to the graduate faculty in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Major: Materials Science and Engineering Program of Study Committee: Xiaoli Tan, Co-major Professor Krishna Rajan, Co-major Professor Mufit Akinc, Hui Hu, Scott Beckman Iowa State University Ames, Iowa 2011 Copyright © Wei Hu, 2011. All rights reserved. ii Table of Contents Abstract .................................................................................................................................... iv 1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 1 References ............................................................................................................................. 4 2. Literature review ................................................................................................................... 5 2.1 Piezoelectric materials ..................................................................................................... 5 2.2 Ferroelectric materials and the Curie temperature .......................................................... 6 2.3 Ferroelectric crystals and the perovskite structure .......................................................... 8 2.4 Perovskite solid solution and the morphotropic phase boundary (MPB) ...................... 10 2.5 Curie temperature in solid solution of perovskites ........................................................ 13 2.6 Combinatorial processing .............................................................................................. 17 References ........................................................................................................................... 20 3. Experimental procedure ...................................................................................................... 23 3.1 Sample preparations ...................................................................................................... 23 3.2 Structure characterization .............................................................................................. 24 3.3 Electrical property measurements ................................................................................. 25 4. Combinatorial processing libraries for bulk BiFeO3–PbTiO3 piezoelectric ceramics ........ 26 4.1 Abstract ......................................................................................................................... 26 4.2 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 27 4.3 Experimental ................................................................................................................. 28 4.4 Results and discussion ................................................................................................... 31 4.5 Conclusions ................................................................................................................... 35 4.6 Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................... 36 References ........................................................................................................................... 37 5. BiFeO3–PbZrO3–PbTiO3 ternary system for high Curie temperature piezoceramics ........ 39 5.1 Abstract ......................................................................................................................... 39 5.2 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 40 5.3 Experimental ................................................................................................................. 41 5.4 Results and discussion ................................................................................................... 42 5.5 Conclusions ................................................................................................................... 55 5.6 Acknowledgement ......................................................................................................... 56 iii References ........................................................................................................................... 57 6. Piezoelectric ceramics with compositions at the morphotropic phase boundary in the BiFeO3–PbZrO3–PbTiO3 ternary system ................................................................................ 60 6.1 Abstract ......................................................................................................................... 60 6.2 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 61 6.3 Experimental procedure ................................................................................................ 62 6.4 Results ........................................................................................................................... 63 6.5 Discussion ..................................................................................................................... 74 6.6 Conclusions ................................................................................................................... 77 References ........................................................................................................................... 78 7. Experimental confirmation of high Curie temperature ferroelectric ceramics BiLuO3– PbTiO3 predicted by statistical modeling ............................................................................... 81 7.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 81 7.2 Experimental ................................................................................................................. 81 7.3 Results and discussion ................................................................................................... 82 7.4 Conclusions ................................................................................................................... 84 References ........................................................................................................................... 86 8. General conclusions and future work ................................................................................. 88 8.1 General conclusions ...................................................................................................... 88 8.2 Recommendations for future study ............................................................................... 92 References ........................................................................................................................... 93 Acknowledgement .................................................................................................................. 94 Appendix: publication list ....................................................................................................... 95 iv Abstract High temperature piezoelectric materials are needed for actuation and sensing applications in harsh environments such as engine health monitoring and space exploration. Ferroelectric ceramics are widely used in piezoelectric devices but their high temperature application is limited by the ferroelectric-to-nonferroelectric transition at the Curie temperature. The BiFeO3–PbTiO3 (BF–PT) solid solution system is peculiar for its high Curie temperature and thus promising for high temperature piezoelectric applications. However, the high dielectric loss and high leakage current make it difficult to achieve good piezoelectric properties. In the present study, Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3 and PbZrO3 were used to modify BiFeO3–PbTiO3 to suppress the dielectric loss and enhance ferroelectric and piezoelectric properties. In order to study the interrelationship between compositions, processing conditions and electrical properties in a systematic and efficient way, combinatorial approaches were employed to generate composition variation and optimize processing conditions. A simple high throughput method for solid state synthesis of bulk piezoelectric ceramics has been realized by creating a one-dimensional temperature gradient in a horizontal tube furnace. The doping of 2 mol.% Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3 was found effective in suppressing
Recommended publications
  • Unerring in Her Scientific Enquiry and Not Afraid of Hard Work, Marie Curie Set a Shining Example for Generations of Scientists
    Historical profile Elements of inspiration Unerring in her scientific enquiry and not afraid of hard work, Marie Curie set a shining example for generations of scientists. Bill Griffiths explores the life of a chemical heroine SCIENCE SOURCE / SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY LIBRARY PHOTO SCIENCE / SOURCE SCIENCE 42 | Chemistry World | January 2011 www.chemistryworld.org On 10 December 1911, Marie Curie only elements then known to or ammonia, having a water- In short was awarded the Nobel prize exhibit radioactivity. Her samples insoluble carbonate akin to BaCO3 in chemistry for ‘services to the were placed on a condenser plate It is 100 years since and a chloride slightly less soluble advancement of chemistry by the charged to 100 Volts and attached Marie Curie became the than BaCl2 which acted as a carrier discovery of the elements radium to one of Pierre’s electrometers, and first person ever to win for it. This they named radium, and polonium’. She was the first thereby she measured quantitatively two Nobel prizes publishing their results on Boxing female recipient of any Nobel prize their radioactivity. She found the Marie and her husband day 1898;2 French spectroscopist and the first person ever to be minerals pitchblende (UO2) and Pierre pioneered the Eugène-Anatole Demarçay found awarded two (she, Pierre Curie and chalcolite (Cu(UO2)2(PO4)2.12H2O) study of radiactivity a new atomic spectral line from Henri Becquerel had shared the to be more radioactive than pure and discovered two new the element, helping to confirm 1903 physics prize for their work on uranium, so reasoned that they must elements, radium and its status.
    [Show full text]
  • Magnetism, Magnetic Properties, Magnetochemistry
    Magnetism, Magnetic Properties, Magnetochemistry 1 Magnetism All matter is electronic Positive/negative charges - bound by Coulombic forces Result of electric field E between charges, electric dipole Electric and magnetic fields = the electromagnetic interaction (Oersted, Maxwell) Electric field = electric +/ charges, electric dipole Magnetic field ??No source?? No magnetic charges, N-S No magnetic monopole Magnetic field = motion of electric charges (electric current, atomic motions) Magnetic dipole – magnetic moment = i A [A m2] 2 Electromagnetic Fields 3 Magnetism Magnetic field = motion of electric charges • Macro - electric current • Micro - spin + orbital momentum Ampère 1822 Poisson model Magnetic dipole – magnetic (dipole) moment [A m2] i A 4 Ampere model Magnetism Microscopic explanation of source of magnetism = Fundamental quantum magnets Unpaired electrons = spins (Bohr 1913) Atomic building blocks (protons, neutrons and electrons = fermions) possess an intrinsic magnetic moment Relativistic quantum theory (P. Dirac 1928) SPIN (quantum property ~ rotation of charged particles) Spin (½ for all fermions) gives rise to a magnetic moment 5 Atomic Motions of Electric Charges The origins for the magnetic moment of a free atom Motions of Electric Charges: 1) The spins of the electrons S. Unpaired spins give a paramagnetic contribution. Paired spins give a diamagnetic contribution. 2) The orbital angular momentum L of the electrons about the nucleus, degenerate orbitals, paramagnetic contribution. The change in the orbital moment
    [Show full text]
  • Magnetism Some Basics: a Magnet Is Associated with Magnetic Lines of Force, and a North Pole and a South Pole
    Materials 100A, Class 15, Magnetic Properties I Ram Seshadri MRL 2031, x6129 [email protected]; http://www.mrl.ucsb.edu/∼seshadri/teach.html Magnetism Some basics: A magnet is associated with magnetic lines of force, and a north pole and a south pole. The lines of force come out of the north pole (the source) and are pulled in to the south pole (the sink). A current in a ring or coil also produces magnetic lines of force. N S The magnetic dipole (a north-south pair) is usually represented by an arrow. Magnetic fields act on these dipoles and tend to align them. The magnetic field strength H generated by N closely spaced turns in a coil of wire carrying a current I, for a coil length of l is given by: NI H = l The units of H are amp`eres per meter (Am−1) in SI units or oersted (Oe) in CGS. 1 Am−1 = 4π × 10−3 Oe. If a coil (or solenoid) encloses a vacuum, then the magnetic flux density B generated by a field strength H from the solenoid is given by B = µ0H −7 where µ0 is the vacuum permeability. In SI units, µ0 = 4π × 10 H/m. If the solenoid encloses a medium of permeability µ (instead of the vacuum), then the magnetic flux density is given by: B = µH and µ = µrµ0 µr is the relative permeability. Materials respond to a magnetic field by developing a magnetization M which is the number of magnetic dipoles per unit volume. The magnetization is obtained from: B = µ0H + µ0M The second term, µ0M is reflective of how certain materials can actually concentrate or repel the magnetic field lines.
    [Show full text]
  • Screening Magnetic Two-Dimensional Atomic Crystals with Nontrivial Electronic Topology
    Screening magnetic two-dimensional atomic crystals with nontrivial electronic topology Hang Liu,†,¶ Jia-Tao Sun,*,†,¶ Miao Liu,† and Sheng Meng*,†,‡,¶ † Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics and Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, People’s Republic of China ‡ Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter, Beijing 100190, People’s Republic of China ¶ University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, People’s Republic of China Corresponding Authors *E-mail: [email protected] (J.T.S.). *E-mail: [email protected] (S.M.). ABSTRACT: To date only a few two-dimensional (2D) magnetic crystals were experimentally confirmed, such as CrI3 and CrGeTe3, all with very low Curie temperatures (TC). High-throughput first-principles screening over a large set of materials yields 89 magnetic monolayers including 56 ferromagnetic (FM) and 33 antiferromagnetic compounds. Among them, 24 FM monolayers are promising candidates possessing TC higher than that of CrI3. High TC monolayers with fascinating electronic phases are identified: (i) quantum anomalous and valley Hall effects coexist in a single material RuCl3 or VCl3, leading to a valley-polarized quantum anomalous Hall state; (ii) TiBr3, Co2NiO6 and V2H3O5 are revealed to be half-metals. More importantly, a new type of fermion dubbed type-II Weyl ring is discovered in ScCl. Our work provides a database of 2D magnetic materials, which could guide experimental realization of high-temperature magnetic monolayers with exotic electronic states for future spintronics and quantum computing applications. KEYWORDS: Magnetic two-dimensional crystals, high throughput calculations, quantum anomalous Hall effect, valley Hall effect. 1 / 12 The discovery of two-dimensional (2D) materials opens a new avenue with rich physics promising for applications in a variety of subjects including optoelectronics, valleytronics, and spintronics, many of which benefit from the emergence of Dirac/Weyl fermions.
    [Show full text]
  • 1 the Paramagnet to Ferromagnet Phase Transition
    Figure 1: A plot of the magnetisation of nickel (Ni) (in rather old units, sorry) as a function of temperature. The magnetisation of Ni goes to zero at its Curie temperature of 627K. 1 The Paramagnet to Ferromagnet Phase Transition The magnetic spins of a magnetic material, e.g., nickel, interact with each other: the energy is lower if the two spins on adjacent nickel atoms are parallel than if they are antiparallel. This lower energy tends to cause the spins to be parallel and below a temperature called the Curie temperature, Tc, most of the spins in the nickel are parallel, their magnetic moments then add up constructively and the piece of nickel has a net magnetic moment: it is a ferromagnet. Above the Curie temperature on average half the spins point in one direction and the other half in the opposite direction. Then their magnetic moments cancel, and the nickel has no net magnetic moment. It is then a paramagnet. Thus at Tc the nickel goes from having no magnetic moment to having a magnetic moment. See Fig. 1. This is a sudden qualitative change and when this happens we say that a phase transition has occurred. Here the phase transition occurs when the magnetic moment goes from zero to non-zero. It is from the paramagnetic phase to the ferromagnetic phase. Another example of a phase transition is when water freezes to ice, here we go from a liquid to a crystal with a crystal lattice. The lattice appears suddenly. Almost all phase transitions are like the paramagnet-to-ferromagnet phase transition and are driven by interactions.
    [Show full text]
  • Magnetic Properties of Some Intra-Rare Earth Alloys Paul Edward Roughan Iowa State University
    Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Retrospective Theses and Dissertations Dissertations 1962 Magnetic properties of some intra-rare earth alloys Paul Edward Roughan Iowa State University Follow this and additional works at: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd Part of the Physical Chemistry Commons Recommended Citation Roughan, Paul Edward, "Magnetic properties of some intra-rare earth alloys " (1962). Retrospective Theses and Dissertations. 2317. https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd/2317 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Dissertations at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Retrospective Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Iowa State University Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. This dissertation has been 63—2995 microfilmed exactly as received ROUGHAN, Paul Edward, 1934- MAGNETIC PROPERTIES OF SOME INTRA- RARE EARTH ALLOYS. Iowa State University of Science and Technology Ph.D., 1962 Chemistry, physical University Microfilms, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan MAGNETIC PROPERTIES OF SOME INTRA-RARE EARTH ALLOYS by Paul Edward Roughan A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty in Partial Fulfillment of The Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Major Subject: Physical Chemistry Approved: Signature was redacted for privacy. In Charge of Major Work Signature was redacted for privacy. Head of Major Departm } Signature was redacted for privacy. Iowa State University Of Science and Technology Ames, Iowa 1962 ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page I. INTRODUCTION 1 II. LITERATURE SURVEY 14 A. Magnetic Properties of Rare Earth Ions— Theory and Experiment 14 B.
    [Show full text]
  • Exchange Interactions and Curie Temperature of Ce-Substituted Smco5
    Article Exchange Interactions and Curie Temperature of Ce-Substituted SmCo5 Soyoung Jekal 1,2 1 Laboratory of Metal Physics and Technology, Department of Materials, ETH Zurich, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland; [email protected] or [email protected] 2 Condensed Matter Theory Group, Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), CH-5232 Villigen, Switzerland Received: 13 December 2018; Accepted: 8 January 2019; Published: 14 January 2019 Abstract: A partial substitution such as Ce in SmCo5 could be a brilliant way to improve the magnetic performance, because it will introduce strain in the structure and breaks the lattice symmetry in a way that enhances the contribution of the Co atoms to magnetocrystalline anisotropy. However, Ce substitutions, which are benefit to improve the magnetocrystalline anisotropy, are detrimental to enhance the Curie temperature (TC). With the requirements of wide operating temperature range of magnetic devices, it is important to quantitatively explore the relationship between the TC and ferromagnetic exchange energy. In this paper we show, based on mean-field approximation, artificial tensile strain in SmCo5 induced by substitution leads to enhanced effective ferromagnetic exchange energy and TC, even though Ce atom itself reduces TC. Keywords: mean-field theory; magnetism; exchange energy; curie temperature 1. Introduction Owing to the large magnetocrystalline anisotropy, high Curie temperature (TC) and saturation magnetization (Ms), Sm–Co compounds have drawn attention for the high-performance magnet [1–12]. The net performance of the magnet crucially depends on the inter-atomic interactions, which in turn depend on the local atomic arrangements. In order to improve the intrinsic magnetic properties of Sm–Co system, further approaches[5,7,9,12–19] have been attempted in the past few decades.
    [Show full text]
  • Layer-Dependent Ferromagnetism in a Van Der Waals Crystal Down to the Monolayer Limit
    Layer-dependent Ferromagnetism in a van der Waals Crystal down to the Monolayer Limit Bevin Huang1†, Genevieve Clark2†, Efren Navarro-Moratalla3†, Dahlia R. Klein3, Ran Cheng4, Kyle L. Seyler1, Ding Zhong1, Emma Schmidgall1, Michael A. McGuire5, David H. Cobden1, Wang Yao6, Di Xiao4, Pablo Jarillo-Herrero3*, Xiaodong Xu1,2* 1Department of Physics, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA 2Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA 3Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA 4Department of Physics, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213, USA 5Materials Science and Technology Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, 37831, USA 6Department of Physics and Center of Theoretical and Computational Physics, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China †These authors contributed equally to this work. *Correspondence to: [email protected], [email protected] Abstract: Since the celebrated discovery of graphene1,2, the family of two-dimensional (2D) materials has grown to encompass a broad range of electronic properties. Recent additions include spin-valley coupled semiconductors3, Ising superconductors4-6 that can be tuned into a quantum metal7, possible Mott insulators with tunable charge-density waves8, and topological semi-metals with edge transport9,10. Despite this progress, there is still no 2D crystal with intrinsic magnetism11-16, which would be useful for many technologies such as sensing, information, and data storage17. Theoretically, magnetic order is prohibited in the 2D isotropic Heisenberg model at finite temperatures by the Mermin-Wagner theorem18. However, magnetic anisotropy removes this restriction and enables, for instance, the occurrence of 2D Ising ferromagnetism.
    [Show full text]
  • Determining the Curie Temperature of Iron and Nickel
    pparatus Erlend H. Graf, Column Editor A Department of Physics & Astronomy, SUNY–Stony Brook, for Teaching Physics Stony Brook, NY 11794; [email protected] Determining the Curie Temperature of Iron and Nickel S. Velasco and F.L. Román, Departamento de Física Aplicada, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain he phenomenon of ferromag- ate experiments that investigate the point.3-6 However, most of the Tnetism is well-known to high ferromagnetic-paramagnetic phase simple classroom demonstrations of school and undergraduate students, transition by means of the analysis this phenomenon are designed essen- and its physical basis is explained in of the magnetic properties and the tially for demonstrating the existence most general physics textbooks.1-2 electrical resistance of the mate- of the Curie point. In this paper we There are some elegant undergradu- rial above and below the transition describe a rather simple demonstra- tion experiment for determining quantitatively the Curie temperature of a ferromagnetic material. At room temperature materials such as iron and nickel are ferromag- netic, and so they are attracted to a permanent magnet. When these materials are heated above a certain characteristic temperature, they become paramagnetic and are no longer attracted to the magnet. This characteristic temperature is named the Curie temperature (T ) in honor Ferromagnetic C of the French physicist Pierre Curie, sphere 7 Glass tube Magnet who supposedly discovered it in 1892. The Curie temperature is about Thermocouple 770ºC (1043 K) for soft iron and about 358ºC (631 K) for nickel.8 A simple way to demonstrate the Computer existence of the Curie temperature is with the so-called Curie-point pendulum.9-13 In this experiment, Data logger Butane torch a little piece of a ferromagnetic ma- terial (rod, nail, coin) is attached Fig.
    [Show full text]
  • Curie Temperature
    Curie Temperature Neil McGlohon & Nathan Beck (2012) Tim Corbly & Richard Mihelic (2013) The Curie Point • Curie point, also called Curie Temperature, temperature at which certain magnetic materials undergo a sharp change in their magnetic properties. • This temperature is named for the French physicist Pierre Curie, who in 1895 discovered the laws that relate some magnetic properties to change in temperature. • At low temperatures, magnetic dipoles are aligned. Above the curie point, random thermal motions nudge dipoles out of alignment. An example of a curie pendulum which utilizes the effects of heat on a ferromagnetic substance’s magnetization. The motion is periodic and follows the heating/cooling process of the swinging bob. Curie Pendulum • The heat engine uses a principle of magnetism discovered by Curie. He studied the effects of temperature on magnetism. • Ferromagnetism covers the field of normal magnetism that people typically associate with magnets. All normal magnets and the material that are attracted to magnets are ferromagnetic materials. • Pierre Curie discovered that ferromagnetic materials have a critical temperature at which the material loses their ferromagnetic behavior. This is known as its Curie Point. • Once the material reaches the Curie Point, it will lose some of its magnetic properties until it cools away from the heat source and regains its magnetic properties. It is then pulled into the heat source again by the engine magnet to cycle through again. The heat source could be a flame or even a light depending on the material of the bob. Heat Engines • A heat engine transfers energy from a hot reservoir to a cold reservoir, converting some of it into mechanical work.
    [Show full text]
  • Magnetochemistry
    Magnetochemistry (12.7.06) H.J. Deiseroth, SS 2006 Magnetochemistry The magnetic moment of a single atom (µ) (µ is a vector !) μ µ μ = i F [Am2], circular current i, aerea F F -27 2 μB = eh/4πme = 0,9274 10 Am (h: Planck constant, me: electron mass) μB: „Bohr magneton“ (smallest quantity of a magnetic moment) → for one unpaired electron in an atom („spin only“): s μ = 1,73 μB Magnetochemistry → The magnetic moment of an atom has two components a spin component („spin moment“) and an orbital component („orbital moment“). →Frequently the orbital moment is supressed („spin-only- magnetism“, e.g. coordination compounds of 3d elements) Magnetisation M and susceptibility χ M = (∑ μ)/V ∑ μ: sum of all magnetic moments μ in a given volume V, dimension: [Am2/m3 = A/m] The actual magnetization of a given sample is composed of the „intrinsic“ magnetization (susceptibility χ) and an external field H: M = H χ (χ: suszeptibility) Magnetochemistry There are three types of susceptibilities: χV: dimensionless (volume susceptibility) 3 χg:[cm/g] (gramm susceptibility) 3 χm: [cm /mol] (molar susceptibility) !!!!! χm is used normally in chemistry !!!! Frequently: χ = f(H) → complications !! Magnetochemistry Diamagnetism - external field is weakened - atoms/ions/molecules with closed shells -4 -2 3 -10 < χm < -10 cm /mol (negative sign) Paramagnetism (van Vleck) - external field is strengthened - atoms/ions/molecules with open shells/unpaired electrons -4 -1 3 +10 < χm < 10 cm /mol → diamagnetism (core electrons) + paramagnetism (valence electrons) Magnetism
    [Show full text]
  • Evidence for Room-Temperature Orbital Ordering
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Diposit Digital de Documents de la UAB This document is the unedited Author’s version of a Submitted Work that was subsequently accepted for publication in Chemistry of Materials, copyright © American Chemical Society after peer review. To access the final edited and published work see: https://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.chemmater.7b03417. Unveiling a new high-temperature ordered magnetic phase in ε-Fe2O3 José Luis García-Muñoz1, Arnau Romaguera1, Francois Fauth2, Josep Nogués3,4 and Martí Gich1 1 Institut de Ciència de Materials de Barcelona, ICMAB-CSIC, Campus universitari de Bellaterra, E-08193 Bellaterra, Spain 2 ALBA Synchrotron Light Facility, 08290 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain 3 Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2), CSIC and The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Campus UAB, Bellaterra, 08193 Barcelona, Spain. 4 ICREA, Pg. Lluís Companys 23, 08010 Barcelona, Spain PACS numbers: 75.25.-j; 75.85.+t; 75.50.Vv ; 75.47.Lx ; 75.50.Tt ; 75.50.Gg ; 77.55.Nv 1 Abstract Iron oxides are among the most abundant materials on earth and yet there are some of their basic properties which are still not well established. Here, we present temperature-dependent magnetic, X-ray and neutron diffraction measurements refuting the current belief that the magnetic ordering temperature of ε-Fe2O3 is ~500 K, i.e., well below that of other iron oxides such as hematite, magnetite or maghemite. Upon heating from room temperature, the saturation magnetization of ε-Fe2O3 nanoparticles undergoes a monotonic decrease while the coercivity and remanence sharply drop, virtually vanishing around ~500 K.
    [Show full text]