Electrical, magnetic, and optical properties in multiferroic Bi5Ti3FeO15 thin films prepared by a chemical solution deposition route

Perovskite Aurivillius structure Bi5Ti3FeO15 (BTF) polycrystalline thin films were prepared by a chemical solution deposition route. The microstructure, electrical, and magnetic properties were investigated and in particular the optical properties of the BTF films were addressed. The coexistence of the ferroelectric and weak ferromagnetic properties at room temperature demonstrates the multiferroic behavior of the BTF films. The optical dielectric functions in the photon energy range of 1.13-4.13 eV have been extracted by fitting the experimental data in terms of the Tauc-Lorentz and Cauchy models. A direct interband transition is allowed and the energy bandgap is determined to be similar to 3.3 eV for the BTF films. The weak absorption below the bandgap edge was observed and described by the Urbach band tail rule. Finally, the optical dispersion behaviors of the BTF films in the transparent region were explained using a single oscillator model. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3553879]