Thermodynamic potential and phase diagram for multiferroic bismuth ferrite (BiFeO 3 )

Abstract

Multiferroics: The potential of bismuth ferrite A theoretical approach for describing the complex phase diagram of the multiferroic bismuth ferrite has been developed. Multiferroics are materials that exhibit multiple types of ferroic ordering, such as ferromagnetism and ferroelectricity, simultaneously. Bismuth ferrite is perhaps one of the best known of these as it exhibits multiferroicity at room temperature, making it useful for a range of applications, but the underlying physical mechanisms responsible for its multiferroic properties remains somewhat unclear. An international team of researchers led by Dmitry Karpinsky from the Scientific-Practical Materials Research Centre of NAS of Belarus and the Moscow Institute of Electronic Technology use existing experimental data to construct a Landau-Ginzbur-like thermodynamic potential that can not only provide a quantitatively description of bismuth ferrites known behavior, but also predicts new intermediate phases.