Magnetic Properties and Local Structure of the (La, Co) Co-doped Bi1−xLaxFe0.95Co0.05O3

Yongtao Li,Liqing Liu,Chenyong Shi,Hongguang Zhang,Xuemin He

doi:10.3390/cryst11091059

Abstract

In this study, the structural, morphological, and magnetic properties and the local structure of Bi1−xLaxFe0.95Co0.05O3 (x = 0.05, 0.10, 0.15, 0.20) nanoparticles were systematically investigated. In the (La, Co) co-doped BiFeO3 samples, a structural transition from a rhombohedral to orthorhombic structure was observed via X-ray diffraction. This structural phase transition resulted in significantly improved magnetic properties (Ms = 1.706 emu/g at 60 kOe). SEM analysis revealed that grain size decreased with increasing La concentration. The magnetic hysteresis loops confirmed that the significant enhancement of magnetization for all samples. Finally, combining the experimental synchrotron radiation techniques, we studied the samples’ local structure in order to analyze the reasons why the samples’ magnetic properties were enhanced.

Highlights

In recent years, multiferroic materials have drawn much attention due to the coexistence of ferroelectricity, ferromagnetism, and ferroelasticity in a single phase
We report on the preparation of Bi1-x Lax Fe0.95 Co0.05 O3 multiferroic nanoparticles and the influence of co-doping on the structural, morphological, and magnetic properties and on the local structure
The magnetization hysteresis loops were evaluated at room temperature using a vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM)

Summary

Introduction

Multiferroic materials have drawn much attention due to the coexistence of ferroelectricity, ferromagnetism, and ferroelasticity in a single phase. These physical properties can couple each other under a magnetoelectric effect (ME), meaning such materials have applications in sensors, information storage, and spintronic devices [1,2,3,4]. It is quite difficult to simultaneously obtain the ferromagnetic and ferroelectric ordering above room temperature owing to its incommensurate cycloid magnetic spin structure [6,7]. The doping or co-doping of rare earth and transition metal ions has been found to improve the electrical and magnetic properties of BFO materials

Methods

Results

Conclusion