The unusual spin reorientation transition and exchange bias effect in Er0.6Dy0.4FeO3 single crystal

In this work, the single crystal Er0.6Dy0.4FeO3 (EDFO) was grown using optical floating-zone method. The magnetic behaviors of single crystal EDFO at low temperatures were systematically investigated. With lowering temperatures, an unusual spin reorientation transition could be observed. The transition was reasonably speculated as Γ3 (Cx, Fy, Az) → Γ4 (Gx, Ay, Fz). Exchange bias effect could be found in the magnetization hysteresis loops, revealing the relationship of interaction between Fe3+ and R3+ (Dy3+ and Er3+) sublattices in EDFO single crystal. Additionally, when the magnetic field along the a-axis increased to 70 kOe, the magnetic phase transition took place at around 40 K, suggesting that an external field can trigger spin reorientation transition along a special axis. The features in single crystal EDFO have a significant potential in material physics and device application and provide insight into the magnetic structure and exchange bias for RFeO3 single crystals.