Beneficial modification of the properties of multiferroic BiFeO3 by cation substitution

The effects of modifying the well-known multiferroic BiFeO3 by substituting Fe by Mn and Bi by La have been investigated. It is shown that both the substitutions have a favourable effect on the multiferroic properties of BiFeO3. Thus, both BiFe1−xMnxO3 and Bi1−xLaxFeO3 (x = 0.0–0.3) show increased magnetization accompanied by hysteresis loops as well as improved dielectric properties. The ferroelectric transition temperature is lower than that of BiFeO3, but is in a more accessible range. In Bi1−xLaxFeO3, there is a change in structure at x = 0.2.

Graphical abstractModification of BiFeO3 by substituting Mn for Fe and La for Bi improves the multiferroic properties.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide