Effects of Mn doping on BaTiO3 thin films grown on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite substrates

Abstract

We report multiferroelectric properties of Mn-doped BaTiO3 (MBTO) thin films on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) substrates. The MBTO thin films were grown on the HOPG substrate by pulse laser deposition. For comparison purpose, undoped BaTiO3 (BTO) thin films were also prepared under same experimental conditions. The BTO and MBTO thin films were polycrystalline, indicating that the MBTO thin film has better crystallinity than the BTO thin film. The leakage current of the MBTO thin film was reduced due to the Mn doping substitution. In addition, the MBTO thin film exhibited better than the BTO thin film in ferroelectric and magnetic behaviors. We suggest that the Mn doping bring about the improvements of ferroelectric and ferromagnetic properties of the BTO thin films. Based on atomic force microscopy (AFM) and conducting AFM (CAFM) studies, the grain size of MBTO thin film was much larger than that of BTO thin film.