Phase transitions in Eu doped BiFeO3: High pressure Raman spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction studies

We have studied the high pressure behavior of Bi 1 − x Eu x FeO 3 , x=0.05 and 0.1 by powder X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy. High pressure investigations reveal three phase transitions. In the low pressure region the system transforms to the orthorhombic Pnma structure from ambient rhombohedral R3c through coexistence of multiple intermediate phases. Above 45 GPa, we observed a change in symmetry from Pnma to Imma for both the systems. The change in symmetry is driven by the release of strain in the lattice.