Effect of Zr substitution on structural, magnetic, and optical properties of Bi0.9Dy0.1Fe1−xZrxO3 multiferroic ceramics prepared by rapid liquid phase sintering method

Zr substituted Bi0.9Dy0.1Fe1−xZrxO3 (x=0.03, 0.06 and 0.10) multiferroic ceramics were synthesized by rapid liquid phase sintering technique to improve its multiferroic properties. Rietveld structural refinement of XRD patterns and Raman spectra revealed a partial structural phase transition from rhombohedral (R3c) to biphasic structure (R3c+P4mm) on codoping. The substitution of larger ionic radii and higher valence Zr4+ ions at Fe-site leads to decrease in the grain size as a result of charge compensation at Fe site. The weak ferromagnetic behavior were observed in all samples along with maximum Mr value of 0.159 emu/g for x=0.03 concentration, which is also endorsed by second order Raman modes. The distortion in FeO6 octahedra due to Zr substitution leads to splitting of electronic bands of 3.2 eV into multiplets, which in turn reduced the optical band gap value in the range of 2.06-2.10 eV for all samples.