Multifunctionality of magnetoelectrically coupled Ni/Cr co-doped BiFeO3 multiferroics

Co-doping in BiFeO3 is supposed to be an effective approach to mediate its multiferroic characteristics, which are indispensable for its practical applications. In this regard, four compositions with general formula BiFe(0.9)NixCr(0.1-x)O(3), with (x = 0.02, 0.04, 0.06 & 0.08), were synthesized using sol-gel route followed by auto-combustion. X-ray diffraction analysis of the calcined samples exhibited rhombohedraly distorted perovskite structure with increase in lattice constant. Complex impedance spectroscopy distinguished the contribution of different electro-active regions in conduction phenomena. Hysteresis loops exhibited that tuning of Ni/Cr ratio had pronounced effects on the magnetic characteristics like saturation magnetization, remanence and coercivity. An appreciable variation in magnetoelectric coupling was also observed in the synthesized compositions. Hence, this research work presents a potential to improve the magnetoelectric coupling at room temperature which have many applications in spintronics for tunable multifunctional devices. (C) 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.