Influence of Dy and Cu doping on the room temperature multiferroic properties of BiFeO3

Abstract A series of Bi 1− x Dy x Fe 0.98 Cu 0.02 O 3 ( x =1%, 2%, 3%, 4%, 5%) nanoparticles were prepared by sol–gel method. X-ray diffraction patterns reveal that the undoped and doped samples crystallize in rhombohedral structure. Enhanced magnetic properties are observed for the doped nanoparticles as compared to undoped BiFeO 3 (BFO) and when Dy substitution to Bi site is increased, the saturation magnetization ( M s ) and remnant magnetization ( M r ) show a remarkable increase. The Dy and Cu doping has improved the ferroelectric properties of the BFO. The measured magnetoelectric effect shows remarkable enhancement for the doped BFO as compared to the undoped BFO. The measured magnetic and ferroelectric properties of the doped samples has demonstrated that Dy and Cu doping can significantly improve the multiferroic properties of BiFeO 3 .