Effects of Co doping on structural, magnetic, and electrical properties of 0.6BiFeO3-0.4(Bi0.5K0.5)TiO3 solid solution

The effects of Co doping on structural, dielectric, and magnetic properties of multiferroic 0.6BiFe1-xCoxO3-0.4(Bi0.5K0.5)TiO3 (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.2) ceramics have been investigated. The samples undergo a structural transition from pseudocubic to rhombohedral phase at x = 0.1. The maximum remnant polarization of 57.8 μC/cm2 and remnant magnetization of 0.107 emu/g are observed in the x = 0.15 sample. The ferromagnetism is proposed to originate from the suppression of spiral spin structure with the canting of the antiferromagnetically ordered spins caused by the substitution of Co for Fe ions. Moreover, the magnetodielectric effect can be observed in the x = 0.15 sample.