Abstract We investigated magnetic properties of ErFe2O4-δ single crystal containing oxygen vacancies with value of δ being estimated to be 0.066. The temperature dependence of dc magnetization in zero field cooling (ZFC) process reveals that ErFe2O4-δ undergoes a ferrimagnetic transition at 234 K followed by a broad peak at 224.3 K. The latter is attributable to the spin glass transition as indicated by the strong frequency dependence of temperature-dependent ac susceptibility. The frequency variation of transition temperature is described well by the dynamic scaling law and the critical exponent is similar to those reported for typical spin glasses. Additionally, the spin glass transition at 224.3 K is confirmed by the fact that the magnetic field dependence of irreversible transition temperature is coincident with the de Almeida-Thouless line and that the aging memory and rejuvenation effect is observed. Noticeably, ErFe2O4-δ single crystal exhibits the field-cooled hysteresis loop shift and training effect below 200 K, suggesting the occurrence of exchange bias effect originating from the spin glass phase.
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