Mechanisms of magnetic and temperature hysteresis in ErFeO 3 and TmFeO 3 single crystals

• Published in: Journal of applied physics 2010-10, Vol.108 (8), p.083906-083906-4
• Main Authors: Tsymbal, L. T., Bazaliy, Ya B., Kakazei, G. N., Vasiliev, S. V.
• Format: Article
• ISSN: 0021-8979; 1089-7550
• DOI: 10.1063/1.3499616

Magnetic hysteresis is studied in the orthoferrites ErFeO 3 and TmFeO 3 using the single crystal samples of millimeter dimensions. It is shown that in both materials one observes a temperature transition manifesting itself through the temperature hysteresis of the magnetic moment and a peculiar temperature evolution of the field hysteresis loop shapes near this transition. Experiments rule out the hypothesis that the ordering of the orthoferrite's rare-earth magnetic moments plays an important role in these phenomena. The hysteresis curves can be explained by a few-domain magnetic state of the samples that results from the weak ferromagnetism of the orthoferrites. The phenomenon is generic for weak ferromagnets with temperature dependent magnetization. A large characteristic magnetic length makes the behavior of the relatively big samples analogous to that observed in the nanosize samples of strong ferromagnets.