Absence of evidence ≠ evidence of absence: statistical analysis of inclusions in multiferroic thin films
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Published Version
Additional file 1: Supplementary Information
Date
2014-07-16
Authors
Schmidt, Michael
Amann, Andreas
Keeney, Lynette
Pemble, Martyn E.
Holmes, Justin D.
Petkov, Nikolay
Whatmore, Roger W.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group, Macmillan Publishers Limited
Published Version
Abstract
Assertions that a new material may offer particularly advantageous properties should always be subjected to careful critical evaluation, especially when those properties can be affected by the presence of inclusions at trace level. This is particularly important for claims relating to new multiferroic compounds, which can easily be confounded by unobserved second phase magnetic inclusions. We demonstrate an original methodology for the detection, localization and quantification of second phase inclusions in thin Aurivillius type films. Additionally, we develop a dedicated statistical model and demonstrate its application to the analysis of Bi6Ti2.8Fe1.52Mn0.68O18 (B6TFMO) thin films, that makes it possible to put a high, defined confidence level (e.g. 99.5%) to the statement of ‘new single phase multiferroic materials’. While our methodology has been specifically developed for magnetic inclusions, it can easily be adapted to any other material system that can be affected by low level inclusions.
Description
Keywords
New multiferroic compounds , Magnetic inclusions , B6TFMO , Thin films , Microscopy , Microanalysis
Citation
SCHMIDT, M., AMANN, A., KEENEY, L., PEMBLE, M. E., HOLMES, J. D., PETKOV, N. & WHATMORE, R. W. 2014. Absence of Evidence ≠ Evidence of Absence: Statistical Analysis of Inclusions in Multiferroic Thin Films. Scientific Reports, 4, 5712. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep05712