Large magnetization jumps in Ca-doped bismuth ferromanganite

Abstract Magnetic properties of the phase-separated (antiferromagnetic + glassy) Bi0·85Ca0·15Fe0·6Mn0·4O3 multiferroic have been studied over a wide temperature range. It has been found that the material exhibits a metamagnetic transition (shifting toward smaller fields with decreasing temperature) which is accompanied by the magnetization jumps whose value (up to ∼4 emu/g at T = 2 K) far exceeds that characteristic of the field-driven transformation from the cycloidal to the canted antiferromagnetic order in the pure BiFeO3. The metamagnetic behavior can be explained as originating from the spin-reorientation transition in the long range-ordered antiferromagnetic phase and involving magnetic moments from the glassy-like phase. The obtained results shed new light on the conditions favoring the coexistence of large switchable magnetization and spontaneous electric polarization in BiFeO3-based multiferroics.