Tuning the multiferroic properties of rare earth doped BiFeO3: Role of RE element

Multiferroics attracted a great deal of interest in recent times due to
their unique characteristics. Properties of the room temperature
multiferroic, bismuth ferrite will be presented in a comparative manner with the samples that are prepared by sol-gel method. The preparation of
RExBi1-xFeO3 (RE = La, Gd and Ho) samples and the difficulties involved in solid state reaction will be addressed. XRD shows that La and Ho effectively reduces the secondary phase formation. A structural phase transition is observed to orthorhombic phase with all RE elements above certain concentration. The systematic variation of dielectric properties and loss with frequency and temperature will be presented. The role of RE element in the enhancement of the magnetization at low and high temperature regions will be discussed. Thus, the material with enhanced multiferroic properties, promising for novel device applications.