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.