Fabrication and Characterization of Chemically Modified Multiferroic Bismuth Ferrite Thin Films

Abstract

Magnetoelectric multiferroics exhibit coexisting magnetic and ferroelectric phases, with coupling between magnetic and electric ordering. In this work, pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technology has been used to deposit multiferroic pure and chemically modified BiFeO3 (BFO) thin film on different substrates. The novelty of our work is to present a systematically of chemically modified BFO thin films combining with the macroscopic and microscopic ferroelectric properties and local domain switching behavior. The microstructures, electrical and magnetic properties of the as-grown films are systematically investigated.

A, B-site and A, B codoped effects have been determined, suggesting that the dopants could greatly impact the multiferroic properties of BFO films. In addition, the leakage mechanism of the multiferroic films have been studied at different growth conditions and different measurement conditions, such as temperature and electric field. Furthermore, defect chemistry and low temperature magnetic phase transition have been evaluated via electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR).