Improved leakage current and ferromagnetic properties in magnetic field annealed BiFeO3-based ceramics

Single-phase Bi0.85La0.15FeO3 ceramics were synthesized under various magnetic fields (H-a = 0 T, 3 T, 5 T). Substantially reduced leakage current and hence modified ferroelectric (FE) properties were obtained with magnetic field annealing (MA). The largest magnetization and lowest leakage current with large FE polarization (P-r similar to 33 mu C/cm(2)) were found in the sample annealed with H-a = 3 T. Great changes were also observed in the Raman spectra. All the observed features originate mainly from the different FE domain wall structures induced by MA. These results demonstrate that MA is an effective way to tune the multiferroic and magnetoelectric properties in BiFeO3-based materials. Crown Copyright (c) 2012 Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.