Low temperature magnetic studies on PbFe0.5Nb0.5O3 multiferroic

PbFe0.5Nb0.5O3 (PFN), a well-known A(B′1/2B″1/2)O3 type multiferroic, was successfully synthesized in single phase by a single step solid state reaction method. The single phase PFN was characterized through XRD, microstructure through SEM, and magnetic studies were carried out through a temperature dependent vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) and neutron diffraction (ND) measurements. PFN exhibits a cusp at around 150 K in the temperature dependent magnetic susceptibility corresponding to the Néel temperature (TN1) and another peak around 10 K (TN2) corresponding to spin-glass like transition. In the temperature dependent ND studies, a magnetic Bragg peak appears at Q=1.35 Å−1 (where Q=4πsinθ/λ, is called the scattering vector) below TN (150 K) implying antiferromagnetic (AFM) ordering in the system. On the basis of Rietveld analysis of the ND data at T=2 K, the magnetic structure of PFN could be explained by a G-type antiferromagnetic structure.