Monoclinic Deformation of Crystal Lattice of Bulk α-BiFeO₃: High Resolution Synchrotron Radiation Studies

Abstract

Lineshape analysis of high resolution synchrotron radiation (SR) diffraction patterns of polycrystalline α-BiFeO 3 is presented. The observations can be explained by assuming a symmetry lowering from the rhombohedral R 3 c to the monoclinic C c . The lattice constants for the monoclinic C c group are given. The symmetry lowering is observed with four different BiFeO 3 samples synthesized in different laboratories.