Tailoring the magnetic properties of non-magnetic Cd doped BaTiO3 nanostructures

Abstract

In order to explore the potential role of non-magnetic cadmium (Cd) in establishing room temperature ferromagnetism (RTFM) in diamagnetic BaTiO3, the analyses of the structural, optical and magnetic properties of non-magnetic ions Cd-doped BaTiO3 nanoparticles of the series Ba1-xCdxTiO3 (x = 0.1 %, 0.3 % and 0.5 %) are successfully accomplished making use of the samples synthesized via facile sol–gel route. The X-ray diffraction and Raman scattering analyses demonstrate that doping with Cd leads to a change in the phase composition of the tetragonal BaTiO3 with the dominance of the BaTi2O5 phase. The core-level XPS study carried out gives direct evidence of cation vacancies due to the richness of lattice oxygen content in the investigated sample at x > 0.1 %. The Cd2+ substitution significantly reduces the optical bandgap of the BaTiO3 nanoparticles from 3.14 to 2.78 eV such that it enhances the PL visible emission. Ferromagnetism originates from the contributions of lattice contractions due to the structural deformation, defect formation and cation vacancies. Among all these samples, 0.3 % Cd doped BaTiO3 leads to the gaining of small saturation magnetization (Ms = 5.40 ± 0.02 × 10-3 emu/g).