Neutron scattering studies of BiFeO3 multiferroics: a review for microscopists

Application of the neutron scattering technique in the study of crystal and magnetic properties of multiferroic BiFeO₃ is presented. The crucial role of the neutron scattering technique, complementary to X-ray diffraction method and transmission electron microscopy, is shown. Especially the ultra high-resolution time-of-flight (TOF) neutron diffraction technique used by Sosnowska et al. to detect the magnetic cycloid ordering and its role in studies of physical properties of BiFeO₃ and its alloys are reviewed. The first inelastic neutron scattering patterns of magnetic excitations in BiFeO₃ are also presented. Applications of different microscopy techniques such as transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy ( SEM), field emission TEM and SEM (FESEM and FETEM), magnetic force microscope (MFM) and polarization force microscopy (PFM) bring insight on the fundamental problem of ferroelectricity and confirm the potential of BiFeO₃ multiferroic material for nanoscale devices.