Superparamagnetism induced by polar nanoregions in relaxor ferroelectric (1$-$$x$)BiFeO$_{3}$-$x$BaTiO$_{3}$

Abstract

A new class of superparamagnetism was found in relaxor ferroelectric 2/3BiFeO$_{3}$-1/3BaTiO$_{3}$. The size of the magnetic particle, estimated from the superparamagnetic magnetization curve, coincides with the size of the polar nanoregion (PNR), which governs the relaxor ferroelectric property. This suggests that the magnetic domain is identical to the PNR. The temperature variations in the sizes of the magnetic domains and PNRs estimated by our neutron diffraction measurements support this picture. Since the same domain provides both electric and magnetic properties, strong coupling between the two properties through the domain size is expected.