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Crystallographic features in the vicinity of the morphotropic phaseboundary in the multiferroic material Bi1-x SmxFeO3
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 February 2016
Abstract
The multiferroic material Bi1-x SmxFeO3 shows ferroelectric and antiferromagnetic properties inthe ground state of the Bi-rich side. When the Sm content increases fromx = 0 in BiFeO3, the (ferroelectric-R3c→ paraelectric-Pnma) state change occurs around x= 0.14. According to the previous studies onBi1-x SmxFeO3, the state boundary between the R3c and Pnma states can beidentified as a morphotropic phase boundary (MPB), which is nearly parallel tothe temperature axis in the state diagram. The notable feature ofBi1-x SmxFeO3 is that a remarkable piezoelectric response was also foundnear the MPB. However, the origin of the remarkable response has not beenunderstood sufficiently. In this study, thus, the crystallographic features inthe vicinity of the MPB have been examined by x-ray powder diffraction andtransmission electron microscopy. It was confirmed that the R3c and Pnma stateswere present for 0 ≤ x ≤ 0.15 and for0.16 ≤ x ≤ 0.30, respectively. Inaddition to these states, there also existed the PbZrO3-type statearound x = 0.15, which was identified as a modulatedstructure. Based on the analysis of the modulated structure, furthermore, it wassuggested that the PbZrO3-type state could be regarded as a 2q state,which is characterized by two transverse modulation waves with k1= [1/2 0 0]o and k2 = [0 1/20]o in the orthorhombic-Pnma notation.
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