Structural, Magnetic and Optical Properties of BiFe1-xNbxO3

Nb doped multiferroic BiFe1-xNbxO3 (0<x<0.05) polycrystalline powders have been synthesized by using a sol-gel method. The effect of Nb dopant on the structural, magnetic and optical properties is investigated. According to the X-ray diffraction data and the result of Rietveld refinement, all the samples maintain the R3c phase, while the lattice parameters a, c, the cell volume V and the Fe-O-Fe bond angle change. The remnant magnetization enhances by appropriate Nb doping due to the decreasing of the grain size. Meanwhile, Nb dopant leads to the narrowing of the band gap of BiFe1-xNbxO3 samples.