The effect of aliovalent Pb2+ dopant on the magnetic and magneto dielectric properties of LaFeO3 solid solutions

La1−xPbxFeO3 (x = 0.1-0.5) solid solutions have been prepared by aliovalent substitution of Pb2+ at La3+ site using solid state reaction route. The structural, magnetic and magneto dielectric properties of these solid solutions have been reported. The XRD data shows that all samples possess orthorhombic crystal structure and do not exhibit any phase segregation indicating that the Pb2+ is well within its solid solubility limit. All samples exhibit magnetic ordering with Mr increasing up to x = 0.2 (1.65 emu/g) and decreasing thereafter. The XPS data shows that the ratio of Fe3+/Fe2+ ions increases up to x = 0.2 and decreases thereafter. The magneto dielectric response has been observed in all the samples at low frequencies only indicating the role of space charge polarization.