Low temperature magneto-dielectric coupling in nanoscale layered SmFe0.5Co0.5O3 perovskite

Abstract In this study, we determined the different physical characteristics of nanoscale layered mixed Fe-Co layers of orthoferrite SmFe 0.5 Co 0.5 O 3 based on magnetic and dielectric measurements. Magnetization analyzes showed that the system was antiferromagnetic with a magnetic transition around 310 K and two spin-reorientation transitions at around 192 K and 22 K. In this phase, the antisymmetric exchange interaction induced weak ferromagnetism due to canting of the magnetic spins in a similar manner to the Ln-Fe-Co system. Importantly, this nanoscale layered perovskite also exhibited a positive magneto-dielectric effect of around 2.5% (100 K) and the value decreased on both sides of this temperature. We analyzed the conditions related to the existence of magnetic and dielectric coupling in terms of the magnetic interactions between the cations as well as the spin–lattice interactions in the low temperature range.