A review of the structure, magnetic and electrical properties of bismuth ferrite (Bi2Fe4O9)

Nowadays, investigations on the materials with multiferroic properties are in progress. These materials compromise simultaneous electric and magnetic properties. Ferrite Bismuth (FB) is one of the ceramic materials that enjoy this property and possesses three different crystalline structures (perovskite BiFeO3, selenite Bi25FeO40 and mullite Bi2Fe4O9). In this review, first, the crystalline structure and the electric and magnetic properties of Bi2Fe4O9 are studied, and then, the effects of adding dopants to the ferrite are discussed. Mullite-type bismuth ferrite (Bi2Fe4O9) as a spin frustrated multiferroic has potential for magnetoelectric coupling, and it might be an appropriate alternative for some of the multiferroics that suffer from a weak magnetoelectric coupling.