Colossal magnetocapacitive effect in differently synthesized and doped CdCr2S4

In the present work, we address the question of an impurity-related origin of the colossal magnetocapacitive effect in the spinel system CdCr2S4. We demonstrate that a strong variation in the dielectric constant below the magnetic transition temperature or in external magnetic fields also arises in crystals prepared without chlorine. This excludes that an inhomogeneous distribution of chlorine impurities at the surface or in the bulk material gives rise to the unusual effects in the spinel multiferroics. In addition, we show that the colossal magnetocapacitive effects can also be generated in chlorine-free ceramic samples of CdCr2S4, doped with indium. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.