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Presents an abstract of the study 'Antiferromagnetic States in Co[subp]Mg[sub1-p]O,' by T.M. Giebultowicz, J.J. Rhyne, M.S. Seehra, Z. Feng and W. Minor.

A correction to the article "Carbon-assisted water electrolysis: An energy-efficient process to produce pure H2 at room temperature," published in the previous issue is presented.

Effects of the substitution of rare-earths R=Y, Er, and Ho on the magnetic properties of Dy0.7R0.3CrO3 are reported here in order to probe the nature of magnetism and related exchange interactions in these materials. By fitting the temperature dependence of the magnetic susceptibility to a modified Curie-Weiss law, which includes a correction for the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya (DM) interaction, the strengths of the symmetric and antisymmetric Cr3+-Cr3+ exchange interactions were determined. It was found that the rare-earth substitutions had a slight effect on the strength of the symmetric Cr3+-Cr3+ interaction (reflected in the slight changes in the Néel temperatures), while the antisymmetric Cr3+-Cr3+ interaction remained unchanged. Isothermal magnetic measurements of the samples at successive temperatures revealed a plateau in the temperature dependent magnetic coercivity data, which was explained by the magnetic properties of the substituted ions. It was found that the Y substitution led to the reduction of the strength of the magnetization and a larger peak value of magnetic coercivity as compared to that in pure DyCrO3. The observed increase in magnetic coercivity with Er and Ho substitution can be attributed to an increased R3+-Cr3+ interaction strength dominated by the DM mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The nature of magnetism in Er2O3 is investigated by detailed studies of the temperature (2-300 K) and magnetic field (up to 90 kOe) dependence of the magnetization M of powder sample of Er2O3. The results show paramagnetic to antiferromagnetic (AFM) transition occurring at TN=3.3 K. For T>TN = the magnetic susceptibility vs. temperature data follows the Curie-Weiss (·C/(T,TN))variation with =β-10.2 K and magnetic moment 956;=6.68μB/Er3+ ion determined from C. Molecular field model is used to determine the nn (nnn) exchange constants J1(J2)=-0.57 K (-3.38 K). The M vs. H data at 2 K analyzed in terms of dM/dH vs. H variations show two field-induced transitions, the first one at HSF∞15kOe and the second one at HS∞31kOe. Arguments and analysis are presented to show that HSF represents the spin-flop transition whereas for H HS, the system is field-aligned ferromagnetically since the calculated value of HS for ferromagnetic ordering using the above magnitudes of J1 and J2 agrees well with the experimental HS. The temperature dependence of HSF is shown to follow the normalized Brillouin function variation for spin S=1/2 valid for Er2O3. The magnetic field dependence of TN is measured and shown to follow the equation: TN(H)=TN(0)D1H², expected for antiferromagnets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Photoluminescence spectra of YVO4:Eu3+ nanoparticles are presented, with and without the attachment of organic molecules that are proposed for linking to biomolecules. YVO4:Eu3+ nanoparticles with 5% dopant concentration were synthesized via wet chemical synthesis. X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy show the expected wakefieldite structure of tetragonal particles with an average size of 17 nm. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy determines that metal-carboxylate coordination is successful in replacing native metal-hydroxyl bonds with three organic linkers, namely, benzoic acid, 3-nitro 4-chloro-benzoic acid, and 3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid, in separate treatments. UV-excitation photoluminescence spectra show that the position and intensity of the dominant 5D0 - 7F2 electric-dipole transition at 619 nm are unaffected by the benzoic acid and 3-nitro 4-chloro-benzoic acid treatments. Attachment of 3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid produces an order-of-magnitude quenching in the photoluminescence, due to the presence of high-frequency vibrational modes in the linker. Ratios of the dominant electric- and magnetic-dipole transitions confirm infrared measurements, which indicate that the bulk crystal of the nanoparticle is unchanged by all three treatments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coexistence of the magnetic and the electrical properties in lanthanum (La)-modified bismuth ferrite (Bi1-xLaxFeO3, x=0.05, 0.1, 0.15, and 0.2) ceramics was studied and compared with those of bismuth ferrite (BiFeO3). The presence of a small secondary phase of BiFeO3 (arises due to excess Bi2O3) was removed on La substitution at the Bi site, as observed in x-ray diffraction (XRD). The effect of La substitution on dielectric constant, loss tangent, and remnant polarization of the samples was studied in a wide range of temperature (77–400 K) and frequency (1 kHz–1 MHz). The variation of magnetization, coercive field, and exchange bias with temperature (2–300 K) and La concentration were investigated. These changes in the magnetic parameters with La doping along with those of the electron magnetic resonance parameters measured at 300 K and 9.28 GHz are understood in terms of increase in the magnetic anisotropy and magnetization. These results also show that stabilization of crystal structure and nonuniformity in spin cycloid structure by La substitution enhances the multiferroic properties of BiFeO3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, we report the synthesis of sol-gel-derived lead iron niobate [Pb1.10(Fe0.5Nb0.5)O3] (PFN) powders and sintered ceramics. The PFN powders were calcined at (Ta), 973, 1073, 1173, 1273, and 1373 K for 3 h in air. As envisaged from x-ray-diffraction analyses, PFN powder calcined at 1173 K was crystallized into pure monoclinic perovskite phase whereas powders calcined at all other temperatures had varied amounts of retained pyrochlore (Pb3Nb4O13) phase coexisted with dominant monoclinic perovskite phase. The PFN pellet (prepared using the phase pure powder calcined at 1173 K) sintered at 1373 K for 4 h in air also had a minute quantity of retained pyrochlore phase coexisting with desired perovskite phase. From the temperature dependence of measured capacitance and loss tangent at different frequencies, the ferroelectric to paraelectric phase-transition temperature of PFN ceramics was observed at Tc≈370 K. The diffused nature of this transition and high dielectric constant of PFN is related to the cation disorder at the B site of A(BI+3BII+5)O3 lattice. For PFN powders, calcined at different temperatures, the temperature dependence of the magnetic susceptibility (χ) was measured in a temperature range of 2–360 K, whereas the magnetic hysteresis loops and electron magnetic resonance (EMR) spectra were measured at room temperature. Room-temperature ferromagnetism is observed in all the calcined powder samples and it was found that the magnetization increases with the increase in calcination temperature (Ta). The symmetric EMR line shape with g≈2.01 observed in all calcined samples was identified to be due to Fe3+ ions. It is suggested that the observed weak ferromagnetism, which increases with an increase in Ta, may be due to canting of the Fe3+ spins. These observations suggest PFN to be a very attractive single-phase ferroelectric/ferromagnetic material for room-temperature applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present work we report multiferroic behavior in lead zirconate titanate (PZT)–cobalt iron oxide (CFO) composite thin films. It is found that upon annealing, the multilayered structures are intermixed at least partially, and CFO is phase separated into PZT matrix to form a composite film. The phase separation behavior has been characterized by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy depth profiling of the constituent elements in conjunction with dielectric spectroscopy measurements. The composite films exhibited ferroelectric as well as ferromagnetic characteristics at room temperature. The coupling between the ferroelectric and the ferromagnetic order parameters has been demonstrated through the reduction of ferroelectric polarization when measured under an applied magnetic field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Magnetic properties of sol-gel-prepared bulk samples of Co0.05Zn0.95O and Mn0.05Zn0.95O are reported before and after annealing in 5%H2/95%Ar at 573 K for 6 h. The as-prepared samples are paramagnetic with the magnetic susceptibility χ following the Curie-Weiss law: χ=χ0+C/(T-θ). The magnitudes of C are consistent with the magnetic moments expected for the Co2+ and Mn2+ states. After hydrogenation, the magnetism of Mn/ZnO is unchanged but Co/ZnO acquires room-temperature ferromagnetism (RTFM) with a magnetic moment of 0.35μB/Co site and hysteresis loop with coercivity Hc≃600 Oe, remanence Mr≃0.45 emu/g, and saturation magnetization Ms≃1.2 emu/g. Electron magnetic-resonance spectroscopy at 9.28 GHz gives signals corresponding to the Co2+ and Mn2+ states for the paramagnetic states and a broad FM signal for the hydrogenated Co/ZnO. This difference under hydrogenation between Co/ZnO and Mn/ZnO suggests that n-type doping leads to stabilizing of RTFM in Co/ZnO but not in Mn/ZnO, the latter perhaps requiring p-type doping. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report that Co0.1Ti0.9O2-δ prepared by the sol-gel technique is a paramagnet following the Curie-Weiss law: x =x0+C/(T+θ) with θ≃5 K. However, hydrogenation at 673 K in H2/Ar (5%/95%) gas converts a part of the paramagnetic (P) sample to room temperature ferromagnet (RTFM) and reheating the sample at 573 K in air converts it back to a paramagnet completely. This reversible P⇄RTFM transition has been observed for additional cycles by alternately heating in air and H2/Ar. It is argued that this RTFM is intrinsic and it is due to Co2+-Co2+ exchange interaction mediated by oxygen holes which are produced by hydrogenation but eliminated by oxidation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The in-plane angular variation of hysteretic ferromagnetic resonance (HFMR) at 9.57 GHz, in increasing and decreasing field sweeps, is used to determine both coercivity H[sub C] and exchange bias H[sub E], in a ferromagnetic/antiferromagnetic Co/MnPt bilayer. The angular dependence of H[sub C] and H[sub E], is in excellent agreement with micromagnetic models in which the interfacial exchange energy is approximately equal to the domain-wall energy in the antiferromagnet. The HFMR linewidths show a systematic angular variation, indicating that domain formation is important. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]