Electron paramagnetic resonance of magnetoelectric Pb(Fe1/2Nb1/2)O3

To check on the nature of the weak magnetic order in polycrystalline magnetoelectric Pb(Fe1/2Nb1/2)O-3 the X-band, Q-band, and far infrared electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectra have been measured between 4 and 600 K and compared with magnetic susceptibility and magnetization data. The asymmetric line shapes can be simulated at higher temperature by thermally fluctuating superparamagnetic nanoclusters. The pronounced temperature dependence of the position of the spectra demonstrates the presence of an internal magnetic field which is small but nonzero even at room temperature, i.e., far above the antiferromagnetic transition. The electronic spin-spin exchange has been found to be in the terahertz range. The magnetization data reveal a weak ferromagnetism even above 300 K and a break in the temperature dependence of susceptibility at the paramagnetic to ferromagnetic transition. (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics.