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We report the structural and magnetic properties of four-layer Aurivillius compound Bi$_5$FeTi$_3$O$_{15}$ (BFTO) at high hydrostatic pressure conditions. The high-pressure XRD data does not explicitly show structural phase transitions with hydrostatic pressure, however the observed changes in lattice parameters indicate structural modifications at different pressure values. In the initial pressure region values, the lattice parameters $\textit{a}$- and $\textit{b}$- are nearly equal implying a quasi-tetragonal structure, however as the pressure increases $\textit{a}$- and $\textit{b}$- diverges apart and exhibits complete orthorhombic phase at pressure values of about $\geq$8 GPa. Principal component analysis of high pressure Raman measurements point out an evident change in the local structure at about 5.5 GPa indicating that the evolution of the local structure under applied pressure seems to not follow crystallographic changes (long range order). Nuclear forward scattering (NFS) measurement reveal the development of magnetic ordering in BFTO at 5K with high pressures. A progressive increase in magnetic order is observed with increase in pressure at 5K. Further, NFS measurements carried out at constant pressure (6.4GPa) and different temperatures indicate that the developed magnetism disappears at higher temperatures (20K). It is attempted to explain these observations in terms of the observed structural parameter variation with pressure., Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures

Cerium substituted yttrium iron garnet (Ce:YIG) epitaxial thin films are prepared on gadolinium gallium garnet (GGG) substrate with pulsed laser deposition (PLD). It is observed that the films grown on GGG(111) substrate exhibit perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) as compared to films grown on GGG(100) substrate. The developed PMA is confirmed from magneto-optical Kerr effect, bulk magnetization and ferromagnetic resonance measurements. Further, the magnetic bubble domains are observed in the films exhibiting PMA. The observations are explained in terms of the growth direction of Ce:YIG films and the interplay of various magnetic anisotropy terms. The observed PMA is found to be tunable with thickness of the film and a remarkable temperature stability of the PMA is observed in all the studied films of Ce:YIG deposited on GGG(111) substrate., Comment: 7 pages, 10 figures

From the phase diagram as proposed by Lei et.al., [J. App. Phys 101, 084105 (2007)] a $BaSn_{0.15}Ti_{0.85}O_{3}$ is chosen showing a diffuse phase transition between cubic to rhombohedral (C-R) near room temperature. Dielectric analysis confirms a phase transition near room temperature ($T_{C}$ $\approx$ 290 K) and also frequency dispersion in dielectric constant is observed towards low temperature. Polarization and first-order reversal curves (FORC) suggest that the system is in re-entrant phase at low temperatures. Put together, all these electrical characterization results points toward the relaxor behavior in the re-entrant phase. Local probe techniques such as x-ray absorption near edge spectroscopy, Raman and Mossbauer spectroscopy are employed to investigate the local environment changes around this region of low temperature dielectric anomaly. A simple ferroelectric exchange model explaining the low temperature re-entrant behavior is presented from these results., Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures

In the present work $Fe^{3+}$ sublattice spin reversal and $Fe^{3+}$ spin-canting across the magnetic compensation temperature ($T_{Comp}$) are demonstrated in polycrystalline $Y_{1.5}Gd_{1.5}Fe_{5}O_{12}$ (YGdIG) by means of in-field $^{57}Fe$ M$\ddot{o}$ssbauer spectroscopy measurements. Corroborating in-field $^{57}Fe$ M$\ddot{o}$ssbauer measurements, both $Fe^{3+}$ & $Gd^{3+}$ sublattice spin reversal has also been manifested with x-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) measurement in hard x-ray region. Moreover from in-field $^{57}Fe$ M$\ddot{o}$ssbauer measurements, estimation and analysis of effective internal hyperfine field ($H_{eff}$), relative intensity of absorption lines in a sextet elucidated unambiguously the signatures of $Fe^{3+}$ spin reversal, their continuous transition and field induced spin-canting of $Fe^{3+}$ sublattices across $T_{Comp}$. Further, Fe K- (Gd $L_{3}$-) edge XMCD signal is observed to consist of additional spectral features, those are identified from $Gd^{3+}$ ($Fe^{3+}$) magnetic ordering, enabling us the extraction of both the sublattices ($Fe^{3+}$ & $Gd^{3+}$) information from a single edge analysis. The evolution of the magnetic moments as a function of temperature for both magnetic sublattices extracted either at the Fe K- or Gd $L_3$-edge agree quite well with values that are extracted from bulk magnetization data of YGdIG and YIG ($Y_{3}Fe_{5}O_{12}$). These measurements pave new avenues to investigate how the magnetic behavior of such complex system acts across the compensation point., Comment: 9 pages, 9 figures

Scattering of spin-up and spin-down electrons while passing through a ferromagnetic domain wall leads to an additional resistance for transport current, usually observed prominently in constricted magnetic structures. In this report, we use the resistance of the domain wall as a probe to find indirect signatures of the theoretically predicted spin-singlet supercurrent to spin-triplet supercurrent conversion effect of ferromagnetic domain walls. Here we examine the domain wall induced resistance in Ni stripe in a bilayer Ni/Nb geometry in the normal state and in the superconducting state of Nb. By making a 6um wide gap in the top Nb layer we routed the transport current through the Ni layer in the normal state and in the superconducting state of Nb. In the normal state of Nb, in-field transport measurements showed a clear domain wall magneto-resistance (DWMR) peak near the coercive field, where the domain wall density is expected to be maximum. Interestingly, however, below the superconducting transition temperature of Nb, the DWMR peak of the Ni layer showed a sharp drop in the field range where the number of domain walls becomes maximum. This observation may be a possible signature of magnetic domain wall induced spin-triplet correlations in the Ni layer due to the direct injection of spin-singlet Cooper pairs from Nb into the magnetic domain walls.

We present a systematic study of the magnetization reversal of nickel and permalloy micro-stripes with Neel and Bloch domain walls using Kerr microscopy. Magnetic field driven domain propagation was observed from higher width to lower width stripes for magnetic fields applied along the length of micro-stripes. Stripe like domains were observed with nucleation starting in lower width region followed by their propagation to higher width regions for magnetic fields applied along the width of micro-stripes. The comparison of magnetization reversal in Bloch and N\'eel domain wall regime showed higher domain wall density in Bloch regime for both nickel and permalloy stripes., Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures

Here, we report self flux single crystal growth of FeTe1-xSex for x = 0 to 0.50 series via solid state reaction route,the resulted crystals as seen are shiny. X Ray diffraction performed on the surface of crystals elucidated the growth in 00l plane, i.e. orientation in c direction only. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images showed slab like morphology and EDX (Energy dispersive X ray analyzer) confirmed that the crystals are closed to their designed compositions. Rietveld analysis of the XRD patterns of crushed crystal powders showed that the cell parameters decrease with Se content increase. Coupled magnetic and structural phase transition temperature, seen as a step in resistivity for the lower Se concentration and it is not detected for higher x values. Superconductivity is observed by resistivity measurement for higher Se concentration with a maximum temperature of 14K at x = 0.50. Thermally Activated Flux Flow (TAFF) analysis based on high field transport measurements in superconducting region done for x = 0.20 crystal. Raman spectroscopy at room temperature of synthesized samples exhibits all the allowed phonon modes with slight shift to higher frequency with Se content. Mossbauer spectra of FeTe1-xSex crystals series were recorded at 300 and 5K. At 5K, the average hyperfine field decreases systematically with Se content increase from 10.6 to 6.1Tesla for x = 0.0 to x = 0.20 samples. This indicates a possibility of co-existing magnetism and superconductivity in x = 0.07 to 0.20 crystals. For x = 0.50 sample, no hyperfine field related to magnetic ordering is seen. Based on above results, detailed phase diagram of the FeTe1-xSex compounds is defined in the present study., Comment: 16 Pages including Text & Figs. Accepted Mat. Res. Exp

We report self flux growth and characterization of FeTe1-xSx (x= 0.00 to 0.25) single crystal series. Surface X-ray diffraction (XRD) exhibited crystalline nature with growth in (00l) plane. Micro-structural (electron microscopy) images of representative crystals showed the slab-like morphology and near stoichiometric composition. Powder XRD analysis (Rietveld) of single crystals exhibited tetragonal structure with P4/nmm space group and decreasing a and c lattice parameters with increase in x. Electrical resistivity measurements (R-T) showed superconductivity with Tconset at 9.5K and 8.5K for x =0.10 and x =0.25 respectively. The un-doped crystal exhibited known step like anomaly at around 70K. Upper critical field Hc2(0), as calculated from magneto transport for x =0.25 crystal is around 60Tesla and 45Tesla in H//ab and H//c directions. Thermal activation energy [U0(H)] calculated for x =0.10 and 0.25 crystals followed weak power law, indicating single vortex pinning at low fields. Mossbauer spectra for FeTe1-xSx crystals at 300K and 5K are compared with non superconducting FeTe. Both quadrupole splitting (QS) and isomer shift (IS) for S doped crystals were found to decrease. Also at 5K the hyperfine field for x =0.10 superconducting crystal is decreased substantially from 10.6Tesla (FeTe) to 7.2Tesla. For x =0.25 crystal, though small quantity of un-reacted Fe is visible at room temperature, but unlike x =0.10, the low temperature (5K) ordered FeTe hyperfine field is nearly zero., Comment: 20 Pages Text + Figs: Accepted Mat. Res. Exp, Mat. Rex. Exp. (2018)

The structural, dielectric and ferroelectric properties of lead-free (Na0.5-xKxBi0.5-xLax)TiO3 powders synthesized by sol-gel self-combustion method were investigated. Rietveld refinement of Synchrotron x-ray diffraction data confirms pure single phase rhombohedral crystal structure with R3c space group for all the compositions and anti-phase octahedral tilting angle decreased with increase in composition x. Homogeneity and elemental proportions were confirmed by Energy dispersive x-ray spectrometry. The temperature-dependent dielectric study has shown two diffuse type of dielectric anomaly for all the samples, due to A-site disorder in the lattice, which has been assigned to two-has transitions: ferroelectric to anti-ferroelectric and anti-ferroelectric to the paraelectric phase transition. The transition temperature of these phase transitions is found to decrease as a function of composition. Thermal stability range of dielectric constant increases from ~100C to 220C as a function of composition. Stable dielectric constant first increases, from 1557 10 % for parent compound, with the composition, highest for 6 % composition with emid ~ 2508 10 % for the temperature range ~180 C to 340C and after that decreases to 1608 10 % for 12 % but remain higher than the parent compound Na0.5Bi0.5TiO3. Ferroelectric measurements have shown monotonously decreasing coercive field as a function of the composition due to a decrease in grain size, confirmed by microstructural studies using Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope. Exponential increases in the energy storage efficiency from ~ 17 % to 87 % as a function of composition have also observed. These types of materials, with stable high dielectric constant and low tan delta, have a vast scope in the field of the thermally stable dielectric constant materials and energy storage applications., Comment: 18 Pages, 8 figures , 4 tables

We report mainly the heat capacity and Mossbauer study of self flux grown FeTe single crystal, which is ground state compound of the Fe chalcogenides superconducting series, i.e., FeTe1-x(Se/S)x. The as grown FeTe single crystal is large enough to the tune of few cm and the same crystallizes in tetragonal structure having space group of P4/nmm. FeTe shows the structural/magnetic phase transition at 70K in both magnetic and resistivity measurements. Heat capacity measurement also confirms the coupled structural/magnetic transition at the same temperature. The Debye model fitting of low temperature (below 70K) heat capacity exhibited Debye temperature to be 324K. M\"Ossbauer spectra are performed at 300K and 5K. The 300K spectra showed two paramagnetic doublets and the 5K spectra exhibited hyperfine magnetic sextet with an average hyperfine field of 10.6Tesla matching with the results of Yoshikazu Mizuguchi et al., Comment: Short MS-12 pages text + figs: Accepted Letter - J. Sup. Novel Mag

The phase purity and crystal structure of PLTA samples (synthesized via sol-gel process) were confirmed using synchrotron x-ray powder diffraction (wavelength, lmbda= 0.44573 A. Rietveld analyses of powder x-ray diffraction data confirmed the tetragonal structure for compositions with more than 0.18 and cubic structure for the sample with 0.25 composition. Temperature-dependent XRD was performed to investigate the structural change from tetragonal to cubic structure phase transition. Raman spectroscopy at room temperature also confirmed this phase transition with composition. Field emission scanning electron provided information about surface morphology while an energy dispersive x-ray spectrometer attached with FESEM confirmed the chemical compositions of samples. Temperature and frequency dependent dielectric studies showed that the tetragonal to cubic phase transition decreased from 680 K to 175 K with the increase in the x from 0.03 to 0.25, respectively. This is correlated with the structural studies. Electric field dependent spontaneous polarization showed proper ferroelectric loop for 0.06 to 0.18 belonging to a tetragonal phase while after 0.25 composition the spontaneous polarization vanishes.Bipolar strain versus electric field revealed a butterfly loop for 0.06 to 0.18 compositions. Energy storage efficiency initially increases nominally with substitution but beyond 0.18 composition enhances considerably., Comment: 21 pages, 11 figures

The present work deals with the study of structural, ferroelectric, dielectric and electro-caloric effects in lead free ferroelectric polycrystalline Ba1-xCaxTi0.95Sn0.05O3 (x= 2, 5 and 10 %) i.e., Ca, Sn co-doped BaTiO3 (BTO). Phase purity of the samples is confirmed from X-ray data by using Rietveld refinement. 119Sn M\"ossbauer reveals homogenous phase as well as iso-valent substitution of Sn at Ti site. Enhancements in ferroelectric and dielectric properties have been observed. Indirect method which is based on Maxwell equation has been used to determine the electro-caloric (EC) effect in the studied ferroelectric ceramics and maximum EC coefficient is observed for Ba0.95Ca0.05Ti0.95Sn0.05O3., Comment: (16 pages, 7 Figures )

We report on the magnetic and Mossbauer properties of polycrystalline HoFe1-xCrxO3 compounds. Magnetization data reveals the continuous tailoring of magnetic transition due to weakening of Ho3+ Fe3+ and Fe3+ Fe3+ interactions in the entire temperature range by replacing the Fe3+ ions with Cr3+ ions. The observed decrease in Neel temperature (TN) and increase in spin re-orientation transition temperature (TSR) with the replacement of Fe3+ with Cr3+ is ascribed to the weakening of Fe(Cr) O Fe(Cr) antiferromagnetic exchange interaction. In addition, we also attribute such a change in TN to the enhancement of ferromagnetic interaction of adjacent Cr3+ moments through t e hybridization as a result of the structural distortion. The decrease in isomer shift (IS) suggests enhancement of the interaction between nuclear charge with the 3s electrons as a result of decrease in radial part of 3d wave function with Cr addition. In this paper we also discuss about the variation of quadrupole splitting (QS) and hyperfine fields (Hhf) with Cr addition in HoFe1-xCrxO3 compounds.

PbTiO3 has the highest tetragonal distortion (c/a=1.064) and highest spontaneous polarization among perovskite titanates. But, it is hazardous and hence one needs to reduce Pb content by substituting or reducing Pb content for use in applications. Pb(1-x)(K0.5Sm0.5)xTiO3 (0&x&0.5) perovskite powders were synthesized by sol-gel process, where Pb2+ was replaced by a combination of K+10.5Sm+30.5 (equivalent charge and comparable ionic radius) providing an excellent substitution model to study changes in structural and electrical properties. Vibrational properties and dielectric properties are modified with substitution. A polar tetragonal to a nearly nonpolar cubic phase transition decreases to lower temperatures with substitution due to reduces the lattice strain with substitution. Ferroelectricity is retained even for x=0.5, which has a nearly cubic phase and makes the material technologically important., Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures

A correlation between structure and vibrational properties related to a ferroelectric to paraelectric phase transition in perovskite Pb(1-x)(Na0.5Sm0.5)xTiO3 (PNST - x) polycrystalline powders is discussed. Substitution leads to reduction of tetragonality which is associated with a shift of the phase transition to lower temperatures. The nature of the phase transition gets diffused with increasing substitution., Comment: 5 figures, 1 table

The present work reports the preparation of polycrystalline multiferroic $GdFeO_3$ (GdFO) and characterization with x-ray diffraction (XRD), magnetization, temperature dependent Raman spectroscopy, temperature and magnetic field dependent $^{57}Fe$ M$\ddot{o}$ssbauer spectroscopy measurements. The sample is found to be phase pure from Rietveld refinement of XRD pattern. The M$\ddot{o}$ssbauer spectra measured in the presence of external magnetic field show the signatures of field induced spin reorientation transition, which are corroborated by magnetization measurements. From the temperature dependent variation of internal hyperfine field, N$\grave{e}$el transition temperature ($T_{N,Fe}$) of 672.5$\pm$0.2 K and critical exponent ($\beta$) of 0.333$\pm$0.003 is obtained. Temperature dependent (300 - 760 K) Raman spectroscopy measurements show the signatures of spin-phonon coupling and local structural re-arrangement across $T_{N,Fe}$., Comment: 8 pages, 12 figures

Magnetization and magnetic microstructure of top soft magnetic layer (Fe), which is exchange spring coupled to bottom hard magnetic layer ($L1_0$ FePt) is studied using high resolution Kerr microscopy. When the sample (FePt/Fe) is at remanent condition of hard magnetic layer, considerable shifting of Fe layer hysteresis loop from centre i.e., exchange bias phenomena is observed. It is observed that one can tune the magnitude of exchange bias shift by reaching the remanent state from different saturating fields ($H_{SAT}$) and also by varying the angle between measuring field and $H_{SAT}$. The M-H loops and domain images of top soft Fe layer demonstrates unambiguously that soft magnetic layer at remanent state in such exchange coupled system is having unidirectional anisotropy. An analogy is drawn and the observations are explained in terms of the mostly accepted models of exchange bias phenomena exhibited by bilayers consisting of ferromagnetic(FM) and anti-ferromagnetic (AFM) layers, when the AFM layer is field cooled across $N\acute{e}el$ transition temperature., Comment: 6 pages, 8 figures