Room temperature polarization in the ferrimagnetic Ga2−xFexO3 ceramics

Abstract The effect of the Fe/Ga ratio on the magnetic and electric properties of the multiferroic Ga 2− x Fe x O 3 compound has been studied in order to determine the composition range exhibiting magnetic and electric orders coexistence and their critical temperatures. A magnetoelectric phase diagram, showing the evolution of both the Neel magnetic ordering temperature T N and the electric ordering temperature T c , versus the iron content has been established for 0.9 ≤  x  ≤ 1.4. While the ferrimagnetic Neel temperature increases with the iron content, the electric ordering temperature shows an opposite trend. The electric polarization has been found to exist far above room temperature for the x  = 1.1 composition which shows the highest observed electric ordering temperature of T c  ≈ 580 K. The x  = 1.3 and 1.4 compounds are ferrimagnetic–electric relaxors with both properties coexisting at room temperature.