Size-Dependent Magnetic Properties of Single-Crystalline Multiferroic BiFeO₃ Nanoparticles

As-prepared, single-crystalline bismuth ferrite nanoparticles show strong size-dependent magnetic properties that correlate with:  (a) increased suppression of the known spiral spin structure (period length of ∼62 nm) with decreasing nanoparticle size and (b) uncompensated spins and strain anisotropies at the surface. Zero-field-cooled and field-cooled magnetization curves exhibit spin-glass freezing behavior due to a complex interplay between finite size effects, interparticle interactions, and a random distribution of anisotropy axes in our nanoparticle assemblies.