Novel Multiferroic-Like Nanocomposite with High Pressure-Modulated Magnetic and Electric Properties

In this work, a novel multiferroic-like nanocomposite is designed and obtained using the high-pressure torsion (HPT) method. The crystal structure, phase composition, morphology, ferromagnetic (FM), and ferroelectric (FE) properties of the initial powders and ferroelectric/ferromagnetic nanocomposites are studied comprehensively. The initial powders and their composite show the perovskite and spinel crystalline phases for the FE and FM fractions, respectively. After HPT, the particle sizes of the initial powders are decreased significantly. It is shown that the novel nanocomposite consists of exchange-interacting FE and FM phases and demonstrates improved magnetic and electrical properties in low fields at room temperature. A giant increase in residual polarization with an increase in external high-pressure is found in new composite. The obtained results make it possible to consider the novel nanocomposite as a new functional material for its use both in electronic devices for monitoring ultra-high-pressure and in integrated circuits of high-speed computing nanosystems with low switching energy. The HPT method is a promising method for obtaining new heterophase nanosystems.