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Eu0.8Y0.2MnO3 has been widely studied due to its very distinctive phase diagram, where it is still poorly understood the actual ferroelectric character of the low temperature magnetic phases. In order to figure out what is the origin of the microscopic mechanisms that drive its behavior, we carried out a detailed study of the displacement currents for both different starting conditions and polarizing electric fields, and of the field dependent magnetodielectric effect in Eu0.8Y0.2MnO3 ceramics. The experimental results provide clear evidence for the existence of two dipolar systems, one stemming from an electric field-induced process, likely associated with the isovalent substitution of Eu3+ by the smaller off-center Y3+ ions at A-lattice sites, which is independent of any cooperative phenomena occurring in the system. The other dipolar system, strongly dependent on the existence of the first one, drives the polar behavior of the nonmodulated magnetic phase AFM-2, stable in the temperature range of 23–30 K, and is associated with the ferroelectric character of this phase. The magnetic field dependence of the complex dielectric constant clearly shows that the magnetodielectric effect is strongly dependent on the phase it is being considered, and provides further evidence for the ferroelectric character of the AFM-2 phase referred to above. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eu0.8Y0.2MnO3 has been widely studied due to its very distinctive phase diagram, where it is still poorly understood the actual ferroelectric character of the low temperature magnetic phases. In order to figure out what is the origin of the microscopic mechanisms that drive its behavior, we carried out a detailed study of the displacement currents for both different starting conditions and polarizing electric fields, and of the field dependent magnetodielectric effect in Eu0.8Y0.2MnO3 ceramics. The experimental results provide clear evidence for the existence of two dipolar systems, one stemming from an electric field-induced process, likely associated with the isovalent substitution of Eu3+ by the smaller off-center Y3+ ions at A-lattice sites, which is independent of any cooperative phenomena occurring in the system. The other dipolar system, strongly dependent on the existence of the first one, drives the polar behavior of the nonmodulated magnetic phase AFM-2, stable in the temperature range of 23–30 K, and is associated with the ferroelectric character of this phase. The magnetic field dependence of the complex dielectric constant clearly shows that the magnetodielectric effect is strongly dependent on the phase it is being considered, and provides further evidence for the ferroelectric character of the AFM-2 phase referred to above. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eu(1-x)Y(x)MnO(3), compared against other magnetoelectric systems, exhibits very distinctive features. Its magnetoelectric properties are driven by the magnetic spin of the Mn(3+) ion, but they can be drastically changed by varying the content of Y(3+), which does not carry any magnetic moment. Although the x = 0.40 composition has been studied extensively, some basic areas still remain to be thoroughly understood. Thus, this work is aimed at studying some of its polar properties and their magnetic field dependence as well. The experimental results reported here show that this material is very easily polarizable under external electric fields, and so, whenever the polarization is obtained from time integration of the displacement currents, an induced polarization is superposed on the spontaneous one, eventually masking the occurrence of ferroelectricity. We have found clear evidence for the influence of a magnetic field in the polar properties of Eu(0.6)Y(0.4)MnO(3). The study of electric polarization of Eu(0.6)Y(0.4)MnO(3) under an external magnetic field yields a value with the same order of magnitude of the remanent polarization as was determined from polarization reversal experiments. The comparison of the magnetically induced changes in the polarization obtained for polycrystalline samples and single crystals confirms the threshold magnetic field value for the polarization rotation from the a-direction to the c-direction, and provides evidence of the importance of the granular nature of the samples in the polar response to the magnetic field.