Structure transition and enhanced multiferroic properties of Dy-doped BiFeO3

•The pure Bi0.95Dy0.05FeO3 ceramics was fabricated by an improved solid state method.•The structure transition for Bi1−xDyxFeO3 from rhombohedra to orthorhombic starts at x = 0.10.•The magnetic behavior enhanced with the content of Dy increasing.•The Pr of Bi1−xDyxFeO3 (x = 0.05) ceramic is 55 μC/cm2.

Powders and ceramics of Bi1−xDyxFeO3 (x = 0, 0.05, 0.10, 0.15, 0.20, 0.25) have been successfully synthesized by a modified solid state method. X-ray diffraction and Rietveld refine of the ceramics illustrate a rhombohedral-to-orthorhombic phase transition at x = 0.10. Two types of structural phases were found to coexist with increasing the Dy content from x = 0.10 to x = 0.25. The magnetic study confirmed that the A-site Dy-doping would induce a weak ferromagnetic behavior, and the ferroelectric properties also showed its correlation with structural evolution.