Structural, electrical, magnetic and 57Fe Mössbauer study of polycrystalline multiferroic DyFeO3

• This paper analyses structural, electrical and magnetic properties of polycrystalline multiferroic DyFeO3 sample prepared through sol–gel route.
• Signatures of Fe3+ spin reorientation transition and the antiferromagnetic ordering of Dy3+ ions are observed from the temperature dependent (10-350 K) magnetization data.
• From the temperature dependent 57Fe Mössbauer measurements contribution of Dy3+ magnetic ordering on the hyperfine field of Fe nucleus is observed.
• Ohmic and space charge limited conduction mechanisms are found to be dominating at low and high applied electric fields respectively in DyFeO3.

Structural, Raman spectroscopy, leakage current density, temperature dependent magnetization and Mössbauer measurements of polycrystalline DyFeO3 (DFO) prepared through sol–gel route are reported in this paper. Phase purity and structure of the prepared sample is confirmed from x-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy measurements. The room temperature leakage current density (J–E) measurements indicate that Ohmic contribution and space charge limited conduction are the dominating mechanisms at low and high applied electric fields respectively. Signatures of Fe3+ spin reorientation transition (TSR) and the antiferromagnetic ordering of Dy3+ ions are observed from the temperature dependent (10–350 K) magnetization data. The M–H data measured at 2 K shows the field induced metamagnetic transition. Internal hyperfine field obtained from temperature dependent (5–300 K) 57Fe Mössbauer measurements is observed to decrease below the TSR and further found to increase till 5 K indicating the contribution of Dy3+ magnetic ordering on the hyperfine field of Fe nucleus.