Active ferroelectricity in nanostructured multiferroic BiFeO3 bulk ceramics

Dense BiFeO3 nanoceramics (∼40 nm) were prepared by spark plasma sintering nanopowders synthesized via a sol–gel method and high energy ball milling. The Neel temperature decreases from 340 °C to 265 °C because of enhanced geometry-driven frustration of spin ordering in finer particles. The Curie point shifts to lower temperature (from 697 °C to 655 °C) due to internal stress and a single ferroelectric domain structure. Piezoelectricity in polycrystal ceramics indicates that multiferroic BiFeO3 is still ferroelectrically active at ∼40 nm scale.

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