Synthesis, structural, micro structural, optical, magnetic and dielectric properties of Nd doped multiferroic Bismuth iron oxide

Abstract

Neodymium doped Bismuth Iron Oxide (NdBiFeO3 - NBFO) with the composition Bi1-xNdxFeO3 (x = 0.02, 0.04&0.06) has been synthesized by microwave assisted combustion method. The properties of Neodymium (Nd3+) doped BFO nanoparticles were studied using various analytical techniques. The X-ray diffraction revealed the Rhombohedra phase formation of doped samples and decrease in crystallites size with increase in dopant concentration. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy confirms the presence of molecular vibration. Optical properties were studied using the UV data and optical band gaps of NBFO were calculated. The direct band gap of the materials is found to be 1.02eV, 1.78eV and 1.89eV for. The magnetic properties are studied using M-H graphs obtained from the Vibrational Sample Magnetometer. The M-H hysteresis loop shows decreased saturation magnetization (MS) and coercivity (HC) but increased remnant magnetization (M r) on substitution. The dielectric properties of doped samples were investigated using broad band dielectric spectrometer in the frequency range of 10 Hz to 10 MHz at room temperature.