Multiferroic behavior of Sn-modified BiFeO3 thin films

Abstract

BiFex Sn1-xO3 (x=0 and 0.05) (BFSO-x) thin films were grown in situ on Pt/ TiO2 / SiO2 /Si (100) substrates with a SrRuO3 buffer layer by off-axis radio-frequency sputtering. The effects of Sn substitution on the multiferroic behavior of BFO thin films were investigated. The leakage current of BFSO-x thin films decreases substantially with the introduction of Sn. The BiFex Sn 1-x O3 (x=0.05) thin film exhibits a lower dielectric loss (tan δ∼0.013) and a much higher dielectric permittivity (εr ∼307) as compared with those of BFO thin films, together with the polarization of 2 Pr ∼108.5 μC/ cm2. The fatigue endurance was greatly improved because of the suppression of oxygen vacancies caused by Sn substitution, while the magnetic behavior was degraded with the introduction of nonmagnetic Sn. © 2010 The Electrochemical Society.