Low temperature magnetocaloric effect in polycrystalline BiFeO3 ceramics

We report on the structural, thermal, and magnetic properties of polycrystalline BiFeO3 synthesized by sol-gel route. Powder x-ray diffraction data of the BiFeO3 sample was refined with rhombohedral structure with space group R3c. Magnetization and coercive field measurements showed weak ferromagnetic nature below 10 K. We also investigated the low temperature magnetocaloric effect in polycrystalline BiFeO3 ceramics. The anomalies observed in the magnetic entropy change of the BiFeO3 ceramics were close to that of low temperature phase transitions. The combined relative errors in the magnetic entropy change are found to vary from 4% to 15% with increase in temperature. (C) 2009 American Institute of Physics. [doi: 10.1063/1.3242411]