Investigation of temperature-dependent polarization, dielectric, and magnetization behavior of multiferroic layered nanostructure

The PbZr_0.53Ti_0.47O₃(PZT)/CoFe₂O₄(CFO) layered nanostructures show lowering of dielectric constant and polarization, and an enhanced magnetization with a decrease in temperature from 400 K to 100 K. The temperature dependence of the real part of the dielectric constant illustrates a step-like behavior, whereas the imaginary part gives a relaxation peak near the step maxima temperature. A slow decrease in the polarization was observed from 300 K to 200 K, with an eventual collapse of polarization at ~ 100 K, and a complete polarization recovery with heating, these phenomena is reproducible over cycles of experiment. Remanent magnetization of the layered nanostructure was found to be three times higher at 100 K than that at room temperature. There is a slow enhancement in remanent (internal) magnetization with lowering of temperature, resulting in slow polarization switch and finally the collapse. The temperature-dependent dielectric, polarization and magnetization were different from the parent layer, indicating a kind of dynamic magneto-electric coupling in the layered nanostructures.