Abstract
Multiferroic materials have high application potential for future electronic devices. In the proposed project we will study the influence of selected rare earths replacing yttrium ions in the crystal structure of BaYFeO4 on the magnetic structure, charge ordering and magnetoelectric coupling. Due to the different ionic radii of rare earths and the respective change in lattice parameters, not only the noncollinear antiferromagnetic ordering of magnetic moments of iron may change, but magnetic moments of rare earths may also order. Bulk materials will be prepared mainly by solid-state synthesis. The relationships between the composition, crystal structure, magnetic and charge ordering will be studied in detail by XRD and NPD, XRF, terahertz spectroscopy, electron microscopy, and measurements of magnetic and electrical properties. These methods will be combined with local nuclear methods, such as Mössbauer spectroscopy and NMR, which are sensitive to hyperfine interactions between atomic nuclei and the electron shell, and confronted with ab initio calculations.