Tunable multiferroic properties of Mn substituted BiFeO3 thin films

The current study explored the influence of Mn substitution on the electrical and magnetic properties of BiFeO3 (BFO) thin films synthesized using low cost chemical solution deposition technique. X-ray diffraction analysis revealed that pure rhombohedral phase of BiFeO3 was transformed to the tetragonal structure with P4mm symmetry on Mn substitution. A leakage current density of 5.7 x 10(-4) A/cm(2) which is about two orders of magnitude lower than pure BFO was observed in 3% Mn doped BFO thin film at an external electric field >400 kV/cm. A well saturated (p-E) loops with saturation polarization (P-sat) and remanent polarization (2P(r)) as high as 60.34 mu C/cm(2) and 25.06 mu C/cm(2) were observed in 10% Mn substituted BFO thin films. An escalation in dielectric tunability (n(r)), figure of merit (K) and quality factor (Q) were observed in suitable Mn doped BFO thin films. The magnetic measurement revealed that Mn substituted BFO thin films showed a large saturation magnetization compared to pure BFO thin film. The highest saturation similar to 31 emu/cc was observed for 3% Mn substituted BFO thin films. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd and Techna Group S.r.l. All rights reserved.