Magnetic and electrical properties of Bi0.8Ca0.2Fe1−xMnxO3 (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.5)

Mn-substituted Bi0.8Ca0.2FeO3 ceramics Bi0.8Ca0.2Fe1−xMnxO3 (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.5) were synthesized by a solid-state reaction method. Powder X-ray diffraction investigations performed at room temperature show that the crystal structure is rhombohedral for x ≤ 0.1 and orthorhombic for 0.2 ≤ x ≤ 0.5. Compared to the undoped Bi0.8Ca0.2FeO3 compound, enhanced magnetization and electric polarization were observed in the samples with x ≤ 0.1. A further increase in the magnetization with increasing x took place in the samples with 0.2 ≤ x ≤ 0.5. All the Mn-substituted samples studied are basically antiferromagnetic accompanied by the appearance of weak ferromagnetism, which is similar to the BiFeO3 compound. The conductivity of the samples with x ≥ 0.3, measured between 140 and 380 K, is of the semiconducting type.