journal menu
abstracts
Study of multiferroics, materials simultaneously having more than one primary ferroic order parameter, is a hot topic of material sciences. The most extensively studied class of these compounds is the family of magnetoelectric multiferroics, where ferroelectricity can be induced by various types of magnetic orderings via the relativistic spin-orbit interaction. As a consequence of the cross coupling between spins and electric polarization, the spectacular control of the ferroelectric polarization by external magnetic field and the manipulation of the magnetic order via electric field can often be realized in these systems. Depending on the symmetry and microscopic mechanism of the multiferroicity the coupling energy between magnetic and electric ordering parameters can significantly vary. Classical neutron diffraction often fails in the precise determining of the complex magnetic structure in the multiferroics due to the presence of the statistically distributed domains in the macroscopic sample. Using spherical neutron polarimetry (SNP), known also as 3D polarization analysis, it is possible not only to precisely determine the complex magnetic structure, but also to investigate in-situ its evolution with external parameters and to control the magnetic domains distribution under the influence of the external electric or/and magnetic field. Here we will present some SNP results on few different multiferroic materials. In some of them, e.g. square lattice 2D antiferromagnet Ba2CoGe2O7, even strong electric field does not change the magnetic order. However rater week magnetic field is sufficient to create a mono-domain structure and to rotate spins in the plane. In other e.g. incommensurate (spiral) magnetic structure of the TbMnO3, solely electric field is sufficient to fully control the chirality of the magnetic structure. In the case of Cr2O3 both electric and magnetic fields should be applied in parallel in order to switch between the different antiferromagnetic domains.
abstracts
Monazite type ceramics are considered as potential ceramic storage materials for high level nuclear waste. Natural monazite is a host for radioactive elements like U and Th without becoming metamict due to radiation damage. Monazites are also known for their chemical flexibility and thermal stability. In this context, a solid solution series of (La,Pr)PO4 was synthesised as powders and single crystals and characterised by PXRD (Powder X-Ray Diffraction analysis), EMPA (Electron Microprobe Analysis), TGA (Thermal Gravimetric Analysis) and DSC (Differential Scanning Calorimetry). La and Pr were used as inactive surrogates for the minor actinides Am, Cm and Np, which represent major challenges in nuclear waste management due to their long half-life and high radiotoxicity. The powder samples were prepared following the protocol of [1]. Ln2O3 were mixed with NH4H2PO4 in excess. Powders were ground, pressed, and heated for one day at 1250 0C in air. X-Ray laboratory and synchrotron data showed that all samples were single phase. A decrease in the lattice parameters and volume with increasing Pr content was observed as expected due to the smaller radius of Pr3+ with respect to La3+ in nine fold coordination. The monoclinic angle β showed a linear increase. Using EMPA, the composition of all samples was determined. The average deviation from the nominal composition was calculated to be about 4 mol% which covers both, sample inhomogeneity and, more importantly, experimental challenges due to grain shape and porosity. In TGA and DSC curves, similar behaviour for all samples was observed, except for the Pr end member. This unsolved issue is currently under investigation. Complementary IR and Raman spectroscopic data showed the expected linear trends [2]. This behaviour was also reported for LnPO4 (Ln = La-Gd) [3]. The author gratefully thanks the BMBF (02 NUK 021E) for financial funding.
