Enhancement of electrical properties of (Gd, V) co-doped BiFeO3 thin films prepared by chemical solution deposition

Pure BiFeO3 (BFO) and (Bi0.9Gd0.1)(Fe0.975V0.025)O3+delta(BGFVO) thin films were prepared on Pt(111)/Ti/SiO2/Si(100) substrates by using a chemical solution deposition method. The improved electrical properties were observed in the BGFVO thin film. The leakage current density of the co-doped BGFVO thin film showed two orders lower than that of the pure BFO, 8.1 x 10(-5) A/cm(2) at 100 kV/cm. The remnant polarization (2P(r)) and the coercive electric field (2E(c)) of the BGFVO thin film were 54 mu C/cm(2) and 1148 kV/cm with applied electric field of 1100 kV/cm at a frequency of 1 kHz, respectively. The 2P(r) values of the BGFVO thin film show the dependence of measurement frequency, and it has been fairly saturated at about 30 kHz. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd and Techna Group S.r.l. All rights reserved.