Enhanced ferroelectric polarization and magnetization in BiFe1−xScxO3 ceramics

•Single phase Sc doped BFO ceramics were successfully fabricated.•Dielectric constant and magnetization are enhanced in doped BFO system.•Polarization first increases and then decreases in doped BFO system.•Mr of 0.0105 emu/g and Pr of 16.1 μC/cm2 were revealed simultaneously at x = 0.01.

Multiferroic BiFe1−xScxO3 ceramics with x = 0.00–0.10 were synthesized by rapid liquid phase sintering. The influences of Sc doping on the crystalline structures, dielectric, ferroelectric, and magnetic behaviors of BiFeO3 ceramics were explored. The X-ray diffraction and the Raman spectrometric analysis revealed that all the samples are nearly single phase of rhombohedral structure with the incorporation of Sc ions into BiFeO3. With increase doping concentration of x, the dielectric constant, dielectric loss, and remnant polarization for the doped BiFeO3 increase first and then drop down with further rise of x. A saturated ferroelectric polarization can be achieved at a small amount of Sc doping concentration (x < 0.03), with a optimized remnant polarization of 17.6 μC/cm2 at x = 0.03. Meanwhile, the magnetization is also slightly increased by introducing Sc dopant, with a maximum remnant magnetization of 0.0105 emu/g at x = 0.01. These results indicate that BiFeO3 ceramics with small amounts of Sc-doping may be promising for applications in magnetoelectric devices.

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