Synthesis, structural and electrical properties of Bi1-xDyxFeO3 multiferroic ceramics

Polycrystalline ceramic samples of dysprosium (Dy3+) doped bismuth ferrite of general formula Bi1-xDyxFeO3 (x=0.00, 0.01, 0.05 and 0.1) have been prepared by standard solid state reaction method. Powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis reveals that all the samples crystallize in the rhombohedral structure with noncentrosymmetric R3c space group. The refined lattice parameters decrease with the increase of Dy concentration within the same structure symmetry. The bond lengths among atoms for all the compounds were calculated by the Rietveld analysis. The frequency and temperature dependent dielectric constants (real and imaginary parts) have been measured. The real part of dielectric constant reveals that the Neel temperature decreases with the increase of Dy-substitution down to similar to 200 degrees C for 10% substitution to the Bi site. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd and Techna Group S.r.l. All rights reserved.