Ferroelectric and Magnetic Properties of SrO-B2O3-SiO2 Glass-Doped BiFeO3 Ceramics

BiFeO3 ceramics doped with varying amounts of SrO-B2O3-SiO2 glass, i.e., xwt% (x = 0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8) have been successfully developed via a solid state reaction route. Phase identification using XRD showed that a relatively pure BiFeO3 phase could be obtained at the reaction temperature of 760 degrees for 2h. The sintering temperature of these glass-doped BiFeO3 ceramics was controlled at about 800 degrees, on the basis of the studies of the optimized bulk density, although the bulk density varied with the different doping levels of SrO-B2O3-SiO2 glass. The dielectric constant and dielectric loss of sintered ceramics are affected by the glass doping level, while the BiFeO3 doped with 0.6% SrO-B2O3-SiO2 glass exhibited a comparatively higher dielectric constant value and minimum dielectric loss. At x = 0.6 and 0.8, the glass-doped BiFeO3 ceramics show saturated hysteresis loops with the respective saturation polarizations of 1.2C/cm(2) and 1.4C/cm(2). Too high a glass doping level in BiFeO3 gave rise to weakened magnetic behavior.