Temperature dependence of the crystal and magnetic structures of BiFeO₃

The temperature dependence of structural and magnetic order parameters of ferroelectric-antiferromagnetic BiFeO3 with rhombohedral perovskite structure is investigated by means of neutron diffraction on a powder sample. The tilt angle of oxygen octahedra decreases from 12.5 degrees at 4.2K to 11.4 degrees at 878K. Associated with ferroelectricity the cation displacements diminish essentially with increasing temperature. Changes of cation shifts, tilt angle, distortion and strain of octahedra are discussed with respect to phase transitions.