Study of room temperature magnetoelectric coupling in Ti substituted bismuth ferrite system

Dielectric, magnetic, and magnetoelectric properties of Ti substituted bismuth ferrite (BiFeO3) ceramic synthesized by solid state reaction are reported. Ti substitution for Fe in BiFeO3 increased the room temperature electrical resistivity by approximately six orders of magnitude and also increased the dielectric constant and reduced the loss tangent. The remanent polarization, coercive field, and maximum polarization were 0.081 mu C/cm(2), 2.571 kV/cm, and 0.658 mu C/cm(2), respectively at 20 kV/cm. An anomaly in the dielectric constant and loss tangent around Neel temperature was observed. The ferroelectric and magnetic hysteresis loops were measured which are not really saturated in BiFe0.75Ti0.25O3 compound and represented a partial reversal. The magnetoelectric coupling between electric dipoles and magnetic dipoles at room temperature was demonstrated by measuring the effect of magnetic poling on ferroelectric hysteresis loop and the change in the dielectric constant with the external magnetic field. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.