Local structural distortion induced by antiferromagnetic ordering in Bi$_2$Fe$_4$O$_9$ studied using neutron total scattering analysis

Abstract

To unravel the origin of the dielectric anomaly at the antiferromagnetic ordering of magnetoelectric Bi$_2$Fe$_4$O$_9$ we performed neutron powder diffraction measurements across the N$\acute{\rm e}$el temperature, $T_{\rm N}$. Both local structures and long-range symmetry are studied using the complementary analyses of atomic pair distribution function (PDF) and Rietveld methods at temperatures 300~K, 250~K, and 200~K. We present that PDF peaks which reflect local atomic arrangements exhibit a noticeable variation below $T_{\rm N}$ without long-range symmetry change. The implication of the PDF evolution is discussed in view of a local structural distortion at the onset of the antiferromagnetic ordering.