Triclinic BiFeO3: A new magnetic phase with enhanced magnetism and resistivity

The magnetic and transport properties of BiFeO3/La2NiMnO6 (BFO/LNMO) composite have been investigated both experimentally and theoretically. Unlike the normal rhombohedral (R3c) phase, BFO in the composites is crystallized in the triclinic phase (P1). Interestingly, the composites demonstrate a significant enhancement in the magnetization, magnetoelectric coupling and show higher resistivity than that of the regular BFO (R3c). As LNMO has its Curie temperature at 280 K, the room temperature and above room temperature magnetic contribution in the composites is expected to be from the triclinic BFO phase. Experimentally observed enhancement in magnetization is validated using classical Monte Carlo simulation and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The calculated band structures show a more delocalized band edge in triclinic BFO which suggests the higher carrier effective mass i.e., enhanced resistivity in triclinic BFO as compared to the rhombohedral BFO. Overall, this study reveals triclinic BFO as the promising room temperature multiferroic phase which is helpful to optimize the multiferroicity of BFO and achieve wider applications in future.