Spin dependent electrical abnormal in TbFeO3

► An abnormal electrical transport behavior was observed in polycrystalline TbFeO3. ► The abnormal electrical behavior is related to the spin-reorientation transition. ► Such magneto-electrical coupling phenomenon is attributed to superexchange effect. Perovskite-type polycrystalline TbFeO3 ceramic was synthesized by a conventional solid state reaction method. Crystal structure, optical properties and electrical properties were investigated. The temperature dependent X-ray diffraction results show that the sample crystallized in an orthorhombic perovskite structure with space group Pbnm and the crystal structure had no obvious change with the decrease of temperature down to 200K. The electrical characterization result show an interesting electrical transition in the temperature range of 200–300K, such abnormal electrical transition is considered to be related to the spin-reorientation behavior happened in the temperature range mentioned above. The magneto-electric coupling phenomenon in TbFeO3 is mainly due to superexchange interaction, which can be significantly affected by spin direction.