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Magnetic, dielectric and calorimetric studies on 0.9BiFeO3-0.1BaTiO3 indicate strong magnetoelectric coupling. XRD studies reveal a very remarkable change in the rhombohedral distortion angle and a significant shift in the atomic positions at the magnetic Tc due to an isostructural phase transition. The calculated polarization using Rietveld refined atomic positions scales linearly with magnetization. Our results provide the first unambiguous evidence for magnetoelectric coupling of intrinsic multiferroic origin in a BiFeO3 based system., Comment: 14 pages including 5 figures (Accepted in PRL)

We report an easy and versatile one-step route of synthesis for newly discovered Fe based superconductor LaFeAsO1-d with d = 0.0 to 0.15. Instead of widely used high-pressure-high-temperature (HPHT) synthesis, we applied the normal atmosphere solid-state reaction route. The stoichiometric mixtures of Fe, La2O3, La and As in ratio LaFeAsO1-d with d = 0.0 to 0.15 are sealed in an evacuated quartz tube and further heated at 500, 850 and 1100 0C in Ar for 12, 12 and 33 hours respectively in a single step. The resulting compounds are single phase LaFeAsO crystallized in tetragonal P4/nmm structure. These samples showed the ground state spin density wave (SDW) like metallic behavior below around 150 K. In conclusion the ground state of newly discovered Fe based superconductor is synthesized via an easy one-step solid-state reaction route., Comment: 7 pages (Text+2Figs): Comments welcome (awana@mail.nplindia.ernet.in)

In this article, we report the synthesis, magneto transport features, and magnetization of polycrystalline La2/3Ca1/3MnO3:Agx/Inx composites with x = 0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3 and 0.4. In case of Ag the temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) near ferromagnetic (FM) transition enhances significantly with addition of Ag. The FM transition temperature (TFM) is also increased slightly with Ag doping. Magneto-transport measurements revealed that magneto-resistance (MR) is found to be maximum near TFM. Very sharp TCR is seen near TFM with highest value of up to 15 % for Ag (0.4) sample, which is an order of magnitude higher than as for pristine sample and is the best value yet reported for any polycrystalline LCMO compound. Increased TCR, TFM and significant above room temperature MR of La2/3Ca1/3MnO3:Agx composites is explained on the basis of improved grains size. Interestingly the La2/3Ca1/3MnO3:Inx composites behaved exactly in opposite way resulting in decreased TFM, and TCR compared to pristine LCMO compound. In fact the grains morphology of LCMO:Inx composites is seen inferior to pristine LCMO which is opposite to the LCMO:Agx case., Comment: 13 pages of TEXT+Figs

Nanoparticles of iron were prepared in distilled water using very thin iron wires and sheets, by the electro-exploding wire technique. Transmission electron microscopy reveals the size of the nanoparticles to be in the range 10 to 50 nm. However, particles of different sizes can be segregated by using ultrahigh centrifuge. X-ray diffraction studies confirm the presence of the cubic phase of iron. These iron nanoparticles were found to exhibit fluorescence in the visible region in contrast to the normal bulk material. The room temperature hysteresis measurements upto a field of 1.0 tesla were performed on a suspension of iron particles in the solution as well as in the powders obtained by filtration. The hysteresis loops indicate that the particles are superparamagnetic in nature. The saturation magnetizations was ~ 60 emu / gm. As these iron particles are very sensitive to oxygen a coating of non-magnetic iron oxide tends to form around the particles giving it a core - shell structure. The core particle size is estimated theoretically from the magnetization measurements. Suspensions of iron nanoparticles in water have been proposed to be used as an effective decontaminant for ground water., Comment: 17 pages including figures,Presented at the international conference on nanoscience and nanotecnology (ICONSAT 2006), Delhi, India. Revised for publication in Journal of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology