Enhanced multiferroic properties of Nd and Co co-doped BiFeO3 ceramics

Abstract

The Nd and Co co-doped Bi1−xNdxFe0.96Co0.04O3 (x = 0.02–0.20) powders and ceramics were synthesized by a modified solid state method. The structure distortion was observed from rhombohedral into orthorhombic phase by X-ray diffraction. The enhanced ferroelectric and ferromagnetic behavior of the ceramics was obtained by Nd and Co co-doping. With increasing Nd concentration, the remnant polarization and the remnant magnetization were improved. When x = 0.1, the co-doped Bi1−xNdxFe0.96Co0.04O3 ceramics possessed the largest remnant polarization of 11.77 μC/cm2. When x = 0.15, the largest remnant magnetization reached to 0.3319 emu/g. The relationship between the multiferroic properties and A, B site co-substitution was investigated.