Enhanced polarization and magnetization in multiferroic (1-x)BiFeO3-xSrTiO3 solid solution

The structural, magnetic and ferroelectric properties of the (1-x)BiFeO3-xSrTiO3 (0 <= x <= 1.0) solid solutions synthesized by a modified Pechini method are investigated. Structure phase transition from rhombohedral to cubic phase was found with x increasing from the X-ray diffraction pattern. Compared with antiferromagnetic BiFeO3 compound, BFST-x (0.1 <= x <= 0.4) ceramics show ferromagnetism at room temperature, with their remnant magnetization (M-r) and coercive field (H-C) strongly dependent on the content of SrTiO3. Moreover, appropriate SrTiO3 solution with BiFeO3 significantly reduces electric leakage and enhances electrical polarization. Among all the samples, the x = 0.2 samples shows the optimal ferromagnetism with M-r similar to 0.10 emu/g and the x = 0.3 samples the optimal ferroelectricity with P-r similar to 7.3 mu C/cm(2) at room temperature. (C) 2011 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.