Structural transition and its effect in La, Zr co-substituted mono-domain BiFeO3

Abstract

A new approach was employed in explaining the weak ferromagnetic behavior of conventionally synthesized Zr4+ modified Bi0.8La0.2FeO3. Rietveld refinement of XRD patterns revealed a polar-to-non-polar R3c → Pnma structural transition in Zr4+substituted samples. Magnetic properties were discovered to be remarkably enhanced, with extracted coercivity and remanence as high as 14 kOe and 0.2 emu/g, respectively. More importantly, an answer to the essential question of the magnetic domain state of the samples has been put forward. Our analysis established, nearly without doubt, the presence of grains consisting of a single magnetic domain. Separated ferromagnetic and anti-ferromagnetic components of the total M-H curves helped to reveal an immense effect of the structural transition on the shape of the hysteresis loops. The orthorhombic magnetocrystalline anisotropy of the Pnma phase has been primarily deemed responsible for the high coercivity and remanence of the Zr4+ modified samples. The effect of the grain size and Fe-O-Fe bond angle on the magnetic properties of the samples has also been discussed. Ferroelectricity was found to be absent in Zr-substituted samples because of their non-polar structure. However, the leakage current was reduced by up to two orders of magnitude compared to Bi0.8La0.2FeO3 upon addition of Zr4+. Dielectric measurements conformed to the ferroelectric and leakage current characteristics, and Zr4+ substitution was again found to be beneficial.