The ternary 70P2O5-10Li2MoO4-20Li2O and 70P2O5-10Na2MoO4-20Na2O glasses, prepared by the press-melt quenching technique, were studied at temperatures between 298 and 418 K for their high dc electric field properties. For the above purpose, the effect of a strong electric field on the dc conduction of these amorphous bulk samples was investigated using the gap-type electrode configuration. At low electric fields, the current-voltage (I - V) characteristics have a linear shape, while at high electric fields (> 103 V/cm), bulk samples show nonlinear effects (nonohmic conduction). Current-voltage curves show increasing departure from Ohm’s law with increasing current density, leading to critical phenomena at a maximum voltage (threshold voltage), known as switching (switch from a low-conduction state to a higher-conduction state at threshold voltage). The Pool-Frenkel high-field effect was observed at electrical fields of about 103–104 V/cm; then the lowering factor of the potential barrier, the high frequency dielectric constant, and the refractive index of these glasses were determined.
A series of multiferroic materials with the compositional formula RMn2O5 (where R=Tb, Dy andHo)were prepared by the solid state reaction technique. After characterising the samples structurally, a systematic investigation of specific heat, magnetization and dielectric studies has been undertaken, over a temperature range of 4–300 K. Based on these studies, it has been observed that all the samples exhibit multiple transitions below 45 K. A large magnetic anisotropy, primarily originating from spin-orbit coupling of R3+ moments was clearly observed in these materials. Finally, the magneto-caloric effect (MCE) computations were also carried out, mainly to examine the feasibility of using these materials as magnetic refrigerants. Suitable qualitative explanations for the various phenomena observed in this investigation are given.