Measurement of temperature dependent magnetoelectricity in BiFe(1−x)CoxO3; x = 0, 0.01, 0.02

A very handy setup is developed for the measurement of magnetoelectric (ME) voltage as a function of magnetic field and temperature. Using this setup, first and second order ME coupling coefficients of parent and cobalt substituted BiFeO3 are obtained. Study of these ME coefficients suggests involvement of magnetic disorder can enhance the ME couplings by many folds. In the intrinsic region a nearly same value of the first order coefficient for all the three samples are found. The behavior of higher order coefficient shows that parent BiFeO3 is of mono-glassy character whereas indications of multiglass nature is seen in the cobalt substituted BiFeO3. This study suggests that, a very light substitution of Cobalt at the Fe site may leave the first order coefficients unperturbed but may initiate multiglassiness in the sample, which is highly desirable for enhancing the magnetoelectricity.