Transversal spin freezing and re-entrant spin glass phases in chemically disordered Fe-containing perovskite multiferroics

Abstract

We propose experimental verification and theoretical explanation of magnetic anomalies in the complex Fe-containing perovskite multiferroics like PbFe_1/2Nb_1/2O₃ and PbFe_1/2Ta_1/2O₃. The theoretical part is based on our model of coexistence of the long-range magnetic order and spin glass in the above compounds. In our model, the exchange interaction is anisotropic, coupling antiferromagnetically z spin components of Fe³⁺ ions. At the same time, the xy components are coupled by much weaker exchange interaction of ferromagnetic sign. In the system with spatial disorder (half of the corresponding lattice sites are occupied by spinless Nb⁵⁺ ions) such frustrating interaction results in the fact that the antiferromagnetic order is formed by the z projection of the spins, while their xy components contribute to spin glass behaviour. Our theoretical findings are supported by the experimental evidence of such a coexistence of antiferromagnetic and spin glass phases in chemically disordered Fe-containing complex perovskite multiferroics.