Dynamical electric and magnetic responses in the Bi0.85Nd0.15FeO3 ceramic with morphotropic phase boundary

ABSTRACT A series of experimental and theoretical studies have demonstrated that Bi1-xNdxFeO3 ceramics with morphotropic phase boundaries (MPBs) exhibit a very complex phase-transition process including the displacive ferroelectric phase transition and reorientation of antiferromagnetic alignments [Chem. Mater. 23, 2166 (2011); Adv. Funct. Mater. 25, 552 (2015)]. In this work, such complex phase-transition process in the Bi0.85Nd0.15FeO3 ceramic is detected by electric and magnetic responses as the function of frequency. First, the phase transition from orthorhombic Pbam phase (O2) to orthorhombic Pbnm phase (O1) is found to be accompanied by the change in the local strain induced by MPBs. Second, the electric response at O2→O1 transition with the disappearance of antiferroelectric order showed the relaxation and reversible rotation of the ferroelectric order coupled with the local strain. The moderate active energy of such coupling (∼2.7 eV) facilitates the possibility of recovering the deformation of Bi1-xNdxFeO3 ceramic by an external electric field. Third, the weak magnetic response is frequency-independent, and the reorientation of the antiferromagnetic order is also reversible. Finally, the rotation of ferroelectric/magnetic order connected to MPBs in the ceramic is discussed.