Monitoring structural variation on Gd ratio of La modified bismuth ferrite ceramics with enhanced magnetization

Critical structural variation and dielectric properties were investigated in Lanthanum and Gadolinium cosubstituted bismuth ferrite (Bi0.9La0.1Fe1-xGdxO3 (x = 0.01, 0.03, 0.05, 0.07, 0.1, and 0.15). Conventional solid state reaction technique was used to synthesize ceramic samples. To investigate the influence of cosubstitution on the phase formation and crystal structure, X-ray diffraction method (XRD), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Raman spectroscopy were utilized. Probing the structural properties by changing Gd ratio was carried out to ensure single phase of rhombohedral R3c structure. Hence, the exploration of dielectric properties of single phase modified BiFeO3 (BFO) ceramic was executed by room temperature capacitance and loss tangent measurements. It was found that by substitution of 10 mol% La for Bi and up to 5 mol% Gd for Bi, perovskite structure of rhombohedral symmetry and R3c space group were formed. This possessed enhanced magnetization and reduced dielectric loss compared to pure BFO. (C) 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.