Effect of CoFe2O4 layer and (Gd, Mn) co-substitution on multiferroic properties of BiFeO3 films

Multiferroic Gd, Mn co-doped BiFeO3 (BFO)/CoFe2O4 (CFO) heterostructure film has been deposited by the chemical solution deposition on a FTO/glass substrate. The influence of CoFe2O4 layer and (Gd, Mn) co-substitution on multiferroic properties of the heterostructure film was investigated. The XRD and SEM results reveal that the well double-layer heterostructure film is obtained. It is found that (Gd, Mn) co-substitution induces a structural transformation in the BFO layer. Compared with BFO/CFO, (Gd, Mn)-BFO/CFO film presents highly enhanced ferroelectric properties and dramatically reduced leakage current. In addition, the ferromagnetism of the (Gd, Mn)-BFO/CFO is dominated by the CFO layer, meanwhile the (Gd, Mn)-BFO layer also promotes the ferromagnetic properties of the heterostructure. The obtained Gd, Mn-BFO/CFO heterostructure film simultaneously exhibits remarkable ferroelectricity (2P(r) similar to 165 mu C/cm(2)) and ferromagnetism (M-r similar to 55.0 emu/cm(3)) at room temperature. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.