Single or both site doped BiFeO3—Which is better candidate for profound electronic device applications?

Abstract

Magnesium (Mg) and Zirconium (Zr) doped bismuth ferrite (BiFeO3; BFO) such as Bi1−xMgxFeO3 (Mg doped BFO; BMO), BiFe1−xZrxO3 (Zr doped BFO; BZO) and Bi1−xMgxFe1−xZrxO3 (both Mg and Zr doped BFO; BMZO) were synthesized by solid-state reaction techniques with dopant concentrations x = 0 and 0.1, respectively. The distorted rhombohedral structures of doped BFO were confirmed by X-ray diffraction analysis. The microstructural analysis revealed that there were uniform dispersions and homogeneous distributions of ceramics in BMZO as compared to BMO, BZO and pure BFO. The presence of both grain and grain boundary in BMZO indicated its good electrical response than others as evidenced from impedance analysis and in agreement with AC conductivity study. The dielectric and ferroelectric measurement signified that BMZO possessed enhanced dielectric constant and high remanent polarization thus could be a better prominent candidate than others to be used in electronic devices.