Abstract
Improvement in magnetic and electrical properties of multiferroic BiFeO3 in conjunction with their dependence on particle size is crucial due to its potential applications in multifunctional miniaturized devices. In this investigation, we report a study on particle size dependent structural, magnetic and electrical properties of sol-gel derived Bi0.9Ba0.1FeO3 nanoparticles of different sizes ranging from ∼ 12 to 49 nm. The substitution of Bi by Ba significantly suppresses oxygen vacancies, reduces leakage current density and Fe2+ state. An improvement in both magnetic and electrical properties is observed for 10 % Ba-doped BiFeO3 nanoparticles compared to its undoped counterpart. The saturation magnetization of Bi0.9Ba0.1FeO3 nanoparticles increase with reducing particle size in contrast with a decreasing trend of ferroelectric polarization. Moreover, a first order metamagnetic transition is noticed for ∼ 49 nm Bi0.9Ba0.1FeO3 nanoparticles which disappeared with decreasing particle size. The observed strong size dependent multiferroic properties are attributed to the complex interaction between vacancy induced crystallographic defects, multiple valence states of Fe, uncompensated surface spins, crystallographic distortion and suppression of spiral spin cycloid of BiFeO3.
Highlights
INTRODUCTIONThe effect of doping concentration on multiferroic properties of both bulk and nanocrystalline Ba-doped BFO ceramic materials were reported in Refs
The coexistence of ferroelectricity and magnetism in a single phase is a quest for many technological applications including sensors, magnetic recording media and spintronic devices.[1,2,3] ferroelectricity and magnetism tend to be mutually exclusive their coexistence can only be evidenced in rare materials called multiferroics.[1]
We report a study on particle size dependent structural, magnetic and electrical properties of sol-gel derived Bi0.9Ba0.1FeO3 nanoparticles of different sizes ranging from ∼ 12 to 49 nm
Summary
The effect of doping concentration on multiferroic properties of both bulk and nanocrystalline Ba-doped BFO ceramic materials were reported in Refs. We have prepared 10 % Ba-doped BFO nanoparticles to explore the simultaneous effect of cation substitution and size confinement on their multiferroic properties. To inspect the intrinsic size effect, here the particle sizes were varied thermodynamically for a fixed doping concentration of Ba. The concentration of Ba-doping has been chosen 10 % due to its optimum magnetic and electrical properties.[17,18,19] We have delineated the preparation process of Bi0.9Ba0.1FeO3 (BBFO) nanoparticles to report the effect of thermodynamically varied particle size on crystal structure, cation valence sate, oxygen vacancy and corresponding magnetic, ferroelectric and leakage behavior. In case of perovskite oxides the coexistence of competing ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic phases plays a critical role for metamagnetic transition to take place.[20,21] It is worth mentioning that in the present investigation we have observed a size dependent metamagnetic transition for BBFO nanoparticles which is rare to the best of our knowledge
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