Enhanced ferroelectricity and magnetoelectricity in 0.75BaTiO(3)-0.25BaFe(12)O(19) by spark plasma sintering

Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS) technique was employed to synthesize 0.75BaTiO(3)-0.25BaFe(12)O(19) composite. X-ray diffraction studies revealed that the composite consisted of both BaTiO3 (ferroelectric phase) and BaFe12O19 (ferrimagnetic phase), respectively. The SPS treated sample showed improved ferroelectric nature when compared to conventional sintered (CS) sample. Transformation from hard to soft magnetic nature was envisaged by magnetization measurements for SPS sample. A slim hysteresis loop was recorded with a low coercivity values (390 Oe) when compared to CS sample (3900 Oe). Mossbauer spectroscopy analysis indicated that the existence of a partial amount of gamma-Fe2O3 phase in the lattice, giving rise to soft magnetic nature. The SPS sample showed slightly higher value of magnetoelectric output of 2.95 mV/cm at 3 kOe magnetic field when compared to the CS sample (1.45 mV/cm at 3 kOe). The present investigation compares the spark plasma sintered sample with the conventional sintered sample.