Size-dependent magnetic properties of single-crystalline multiferroic BiFeO3 nanoparticles.

Park, Tae-Jin; Papaefthymiou, Georgia C; Viescas, Arthur J; Moodenbaugh, Arnold R; Wong, Stanislaus S · Nano Lett · 2007

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

As-prepared, single-crystalline bismuth ferrite nanoparticles show strong size-dependent magnetic properties that correlate with: (a) increased suppression of the known spiral spin structure (period length of approximately 62 nm) with decreasing nanoparticle size and (b) uncompensated spins and strain anisotropies at the surface. Zero-field-cooled and field-cooled magnetization curves exhibit spin-glass freezing behavior due to a complex interplay between finite size effects, interparticle interactions, and a random distribution of anisotropy axes in our nanoparticle assemblies.