Phonon anomalies near the magnetic phase transitions in BiFeO3 thin films with rhombohedral R3c symmetry

Raman spectra of epitaxal BiFeO3 thin films, grown on (111) SrTiO3 substrates, have been studied in temperature range 300–800 K. All four prominent A1-symmetry (81, 138, 170, and 214 cm−1) Raman modes show evolution with the temperature near the Néel temperature (TN), which is interpreted due to spin lattice coupling and it could be also linked with the structural instability originated by octahedral tilting near TN as reported by A. Palewicz et al., Acta Cryst B 63, 537 (2007). As another evidence of spin–phonon coupling, softening of the 214 cm−1 stretching mode is observed near and below the magnetic ordering temperature.