Physical properties of bifunctional BST/LSMO nanocomposites

We report the fabrication of bifunctional nanocomposites consisting of ferroelectric Ba0.7Sr0.3TiO3 (BST) and ferromagnetic La0.67Sr0.33MnO3 (LSMO) at different concentrations via a high-temperature solid state route. The structural, dielectric, electrical, magnetodielectric (MD), magnetoelectric (ME) and magnetic properties of BST/LSMO nanocomposites were systematically investigated over a wide range of temperatures and frequencies. The X-Ray Diffraction analyses reveal the nanocrystalline nature of the heterostructures, wherein both perovskite phases co-exist. No parasitic phases were observed. The study of the dielectric properties shows that the nanocomposites exhibit relaxor ferroelectric character, with ferroelectric-paraelectric phase transition temperatures around 287-292K that do not follow the Curie-Weiss law. The electrical measurements indicate that ac conductivities of the nanocomposites follow the Jonscher's universal power law, with activation energies of 0.42-0.63 eV based on Arrhenius-type behavior at high temperatures. The nanocomposites exhibit well-defined ferromagnetic hysteresis loops at room temperature (RT). The MD and ME measurements at RT indicate that BST/LSMO exhibits a nonlinear ME effect at low frequencies, with a threshold near 0.5T. The magnetocapacitance (MCp) measurements evidence a quadratic dependence on magnetic field, further confirming the multiferroic nature of BST/LSMO. The order of MCp was found to be similar to 7% per Tesla. The analysis of the MCp measurements indicates that one of the BST/LSMO compositions studied can be considered as a new multiferroic compound. (C) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.