Ferroelectricity in a pure BiFeO3 ceramic

The difficulties in synthesizing phase pure BiFeO3 are well known. In this letter we are reporting the optimized synthesis conditions for obtaining phase pure BiFeO3 ceramic. The oxide mixing technique followed by leaching with dilute nitric acid has been used for the synthesis. X-ray diffraction pattern indicated that the sample is phase pure. Scanning electron microscopy along with energy dispersive x-ray fluorescence analysis confirmed the chemical homogeneity of the sample. No segregation of the impurity phase in the matrix was detected. Moreover, Bi/Fe atomic ratio is observed to be similar to 1. The ferroelectric transition of the sample at 836 degrees C has been detected by differential thermal analysis. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S0003- 6951(00)00519-2].