Evidence of magnetodielectric coupling in multiferroic Pb(Fe0.5Nb0.5)O3 ceramics from ferroelectric measurements and electron paramagnetic resonance

Magnetodielectric coupling effects of single phase multiferroic Pb(Fe0.5Nb0.5)O-3 ceramics have been studied using standard ferroelectric measurements and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR). Changes in the electrical polarization behavior were observed in the paramagnetic to weakly magnetized antiferromagnetic transition near 103 K associated with a rhombohedral to monoclinic symmetry reduction. The analysis of changes in the EPR spectral parameters confirms the transition from paramagnetic to weakly magnetized antiferromagnetic and reveals noticeable anomalies in the high temperature region near the ferroelectric-paraelectric transition (383 K), which are correlated with the tetragonal-to-cubic symmetry change and the characteristic diffuse phase transition of this material. (c) 2008 American Institute of Physics. [DOI: 10.1063/1.3006433]