Multiferroic and magnetoelectric properties of BiFeO3–YCrO3 ceramics at the rhombohedral–orthorhombic phase boundary

• A new compound based on the solid solution of BiFeO3–YCrO3 was synthesized.
• Enhanced multiferroic properties were obtained in BFO–YCO at its structural boundary.
• Room-temperature magnetoelectric coupling was found to exist in the present ceramics.

Solid solutions of perovskites (1−x)BiFeO3−xYCrO3 (BFO–YCO) with x ranging from 0 to 0.3 have been synthesized under high pressure conditions in an attempt to find magnetoelectric materials. A morphotropic phase transition from rhombohedral (R3c) to orthorhombic (Pbnm) phase is found at x around 0.2. The magnetic and leakage properties of BFO are improved by the introduction of YCO. The 0.8BFO–0.2YCO ceramics, which are located at the structural boundary, exhibit weak ferromagnetism and a typical ferroelectric hysteresis loop with a large remnant polarization of 14.90 μC/cm2 at room temperature. The anomaly noticed from the temperature dependent dielectric analysis and magnetodielectric effect observed in the 0.8BFO–0.2YCO ceramics indicate the coupling behavior between the magnetic and electric orders. These properties entitle the BFO–YCO solid solution one of few multiferroic materials with enhanced properties.