Coexistence of room temperature ferroelectricity and ferrimagnetism in multiferroic BiFeO3-Bi0.5Na0.5TiO3 solid solution

The structure, ferroelectric and magnetic properties of (1 - x) BiFeO3-xBi(0.5)Na(0.5)TiO(3) (x = 0.37) solid solution fabricated by a sol-gel method have been investigated. X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy measurements show a single-phase perovskite structure with no impurities identified. Compared with pure BiFeO3, the coexistence of ferroelectricity and ferrimagnetism have been observed at room temperature for the solution with remnant polarization P-r = 1.41 mu C/cm(2) and remnant magnetization M-r = 0.054 emu/g. Importantly, a magnetic transition from ferrimagnetic (FM) ordering to paramagnetic (PM) state is observed, with Curie temperature T-C similar to 330 K, being explained in terms of the suppression of cycloid spin configuration by the structural distortion. (C) 2011 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.