Ferroelectric and Magnetic Properties of SrO-B2O3-SiO2 Glass-Doped BiFeO3 Ceramics

Abstract

BiFeO3 ceramics doped with varying amounts of SrO-B2O3-SiO2 glass, i.e., xwt% (x = 0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8) have been successfully developed via a solid state reaction route. Phase identification using XRD showed that a relatively pure BiFeO3 phase could be obtained at the reaction temperature of 760° for 2h. The sintering temperature of these glass-doped BiFeO3 ceramics was controlled at about 800°, on the basis of the studies of the optimized bulk density, although the bulk density varied with the different doping levels of SrO-B2O3-SiO2 glass. The dielectric constant and dielectric loss of sintered ceramics are affected by the glass doping level, while the BiFeO3 doped with 0.6% SrO-B2O3-SiO2 glass exhibited a comparatively higher dielectric constant value and minimum dielectric loss. At x = 0.6 and 0.8, the glass-doped BiFeO3 ceramics show saturated hysteresis loops with the respective saturation polarizations of 1.2μC/cm2 and 1.4μC/cm2. Too high a glass doping level in BiFeO3 gave rise to weakened magnetic behavior.