Multiferroic and Nanomechanical Properties of Bi_1−xGd_xFeO₃ Polycrystalline Films (x = 0.00–0.15)

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

1. Regarding the following statement from the introduction: “However, it exhibits weak ferromagnetism at RT due to a residual net magnetization from a canted spin structure…”  The origin of this behavior is antisymmetric exchange or the Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction;
2. The following references are directly related to this manuscript and should be sited and discussed: V.A. Murashov, et al,, Magnetoelectric (Bi,Ln)FeO₃compounds: crystal growth, structure and properties, Ferroelectrics 162(1-4) (1994) 11-21. DOI: 10.1080/00150199408245085, and Z.V. Gabbasova, et al, Bi_1-xR_xFeO₃ (R= rare earth ): a family of novel magnetoelectrics, Physics  Letters  A 158 (1991) 491-498.

 iii) The legend in Figure 1  is not described in the figure caption.  The      figure captions (see the caption for Figure 6 for example).

iv) It is unclear what happens to the sample when Tg = 300K (see Figure 6). There are no peaks shown; why does the XRD shows nothing?

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

The paper presents interesting research, but there are a lot of mistakes and manuscript requires re-editing correctly. In my opinion the manuscript may be reconsidered for review after appropriate improvement. Detailed comments are below.

Generally, there is terrible chaos, mess and inconsistency in the manuscript:

1. The authors use notation of temperature values in Kelvin (line 33) and Celsius (in the rest of the work).
2. The notation of Celsius is different, too: with space (lines: 76, 101, 196, 211, 220, 266, 275) or without space (lines: 198, 201, 203, 210, 212, 213, 214, 215, 217, 222, 223, 225, fig.6, fig.8, ), moreover, the degree symbol “°” is “248 ASCI code”, no “o” in superscript.
3. Confused captions under the figures (figures 6, 7, 8, 9).
4. The authors opted for rarely used (and quite unpleasant for the eye) references to the literature (i-xxxv), although the work contains their equivalents (certainly from the original version, i.e. lines: 193, 245, 260, 263).I think you should go back to the standard method.
5. No consistency in notation of 0, i.e. “0.00” - lines: 15, 17, 119, 140, 143, 246, 249, 276, 277, or “0” lines - 3, 21, 65, 70, 101, 121, 123, 124, 131, 135, 139, 152, 161, 209, fig.1, fig.5.

Lines 2,3,15,17,18, 2, 24: “x” should be written in italics,

Lines 31, 34: “RT” should be written in italics,

Lines 32, 33: “T” should be written in italics,

Line 43: “P_r” should be written in italics,

Line 65: “x” should be written in italics,

Line 74: “RT” should be written in italics,

Line 78: is “x-ray” should by “X-ray”,

Lines 80: the type of device and manufacturer should be specified,

Line 80: “a” should be written in italics,

Lines 83, 84, 85, 104, 111, : the letters in the space group should be written in italics,

Lines 86, 87, 89, 91, 93: the type of device and manufacturer should be specified,

Line 90: “M”, “H” should be written in italics,

Lines 94-95: no equation numbering, “H” should be written in italics,

Line 95, 97: “A_p” should be written in italics,

Line 96: “P_max” should be written in italics,

Line 97: “h_c” should be written in italics,

Lines 101, 109, 110, 114, 118, 119, 121, 123, 124, 125, 127, 128: “x” should be written in italics,

Fig. 1 “x” should be written in italics,

Lines 131, 132, 135, 139, 140, 142, 143, 144, 146, 148, 149, “x” should be written in italics,

Lines 134, 135: “R_rms” should be written in italics,

Fig. 3 “x”, “R_rms” should be written in italics,

Lines 141, 152: “P”, “E” should be written in italics,

Lines 142, 143, 144, 146, 213, 214, 216: “P_r” should be written in italics,

Lines 148, 149: “E_c” should be written in italics,

Fig. 4, Fig.7 “P_r”, “E_c” should be written in italics,

Lines 153, 154, 221: “J”, “E” should be written in italics,

Lines 152, 154, 159, 161, “x” should be written in italics,

Fig. 5 “x”, should be written in italics,

Lines 164, 167, 169, 173,175: the numbering should be from (2) to (6),

Line 170 “A”, should be written in italics,

Line 174 “B”, should be written in italics,

Line 176 “C”, should be written in italics,

Line 178 “e_r”, should be written in italics,

Lines 181, 182, 184, 187: “E” should be written in italics,

Lines 195, 206, 209, “x” should be written in italics,

Lines 196, 197, 198, 200, 202, 203, 206, 220, 236 : “T_g” should be written in italics,

Caption under Figure 6 should be under Figure 9.

Lines 210, 211, 212, 213, 214, 215, 217, 222, 223, 224, 225: “Tg” should be written in italics, and “g” in the subscript.

Lines 210, 211, 212, 227, : “P”, “E” should be written in italics,

Line 214: “2”, should be written in superscript,

Caption under Figure 7 should be under Figure 6.

Caption under Figure 8 should be under Figure 7.

Lines 228, 246, 247, 249, 251, 253, 255, 258, 276, 277, 278, 283, “x” should be written in italics,

Line 229, “M”, “H” should be written in italics,

Line 230, 231, “M_s”, “H_c” should be written in italics,

Fig. 9 “x”, “M”, “H” should be written in italics,

Caption under Figure 9 should be under Figure 8.

Fig. 10 “x” should be written in italics, too small fonts in the Fig.10a.

Lines 263, 266, 283 “P_r” should be written in italics,

Line 266, 286, “M_s”, should be written in italics,

Table 1 all symbols should be written in italics.

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

The revised version maybe published.   

Reviewer 2 Report

Accept in present form.