Photoluminescence and ferroelectric properties of sol–gel-grown Eu-doped CaBi4Ti4O15 : Nd films

Eu-doped CaBi4Ti4O15 : Nd (CBENT) ferroelectric thin films were prepared on Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si substrates by a sol–gel method. The photoluminescence (PL) and ferroelectric properties of the films were investigated by using different annealing temperatures and concentrations of europium ions. All the CaBi3.75−xEuxNd0.25Ti4O15 films have a polycrystalline bismuth-layered perovskite structure, and a morphotropic phase boundary (MPB) between orthorhombic and tetragonal phases was shown to exist. The PL intensity of the CBENT films is significantly dependent on annealing temperature and Eu concentration. The remanent polarization 2Pr values of the Eu-doped CaBi4Ti4O15 : Nd thin films reaches a maximum value of 30.7 µC cm−2 when x is 0.2. The PL and ferroelectric properties suggest that CBENT films can be considered as promising multifunctional materials.