Effect of Yb substitution on room temperature magnetic and dielectric properties of bismuth ferrite nanoparticles

Effect of the Yb dopant on the structural, magnetic, and electrical properties of the multiferroic BiFeO3 have been studied. The structural properties of sol-gel derived Bi1-xYbxFeO3 (x = 0.0, 0.1, and 0.2) nanoparticles reveal the formation of a rhombohedrally distorted perovskite in XRD and a reduction in the average grain size have been observed with an increase in the Yb concentration. Microstructural studies exhibited the formation of sphere like morphology with decreasing particle size with increase in the dopant concentration. The effective doping also resulted in larger magnetization as well as coercivity with the maximum of 257 Oe and 1.76 emu/g in the Bi0.8Yb0.2FeO3 nanoparticles. Ferroelectric as well as dielectric properties of the nanoparticles were also improved on doping. The best results were obtained for the BiFeO3 nanoparticles having Yb concentration x = 0.2. Published by AIP Publishing.