Induced modifications in the properties of Sr doped BiFeO_3 multiferroics

Multiferroics exhibit unique combination of ferroic properties, simultaneously. For instance, in BiFeO3, magnetic and electric properties co-exist. In this work, BiFeO3 and Sr-doped BiFeO3 samples with general formula, Bi1−xSrxFeO3 (x=0.00, 0.05, 0.10, 0.20, and 0.30) were synthesized by sol–gel auto-combustion technique, in order to investigate these ferroic properties. The samples were confirmed to have perovskite type rhombohedral structure, characteristic of BiFeO3. A dilute phase of Bi2Fe4O9 was also found in all the Sr-doped samples. The micrographs of the palletized samples revealed that minutely doped Sr might not have any effect on the morphology of the samples. Frequency dependent dielectric measurements were carried out at room temperature for all the samples from 100Hz to 1MHz. The dielectric constant of un-doped sample at low frequency was 52 which decreased with increasing Sr doping. An enhancement of magnetic properties was observed with increasing the Sr contents. Pure BiFeO3 material was observed to have the least value of remanent magnetization. As the Sr2+ ions were doped in BiFeO3, its magnetization and remanence were increased to 0.867emu/g and 0.175emu/g, respectively, at x=0.30.