Dielectric, Electric Modulus, Ferroelectric and Magnetic Properties of Bi1-xGdxFeO3 Ceramics

Bi(1-x)GdxFeO3 (BGFO, x=0.05-0.3) crystallites were synthesized by the microwave hydrothermal method. Then, the powders were sintered into shaped BGFO ceramics. The results showed that Gd3+ could dramatically affect the structural, ferroelectric and magnetic behavior of BiFeO3 ceramics. X-ray diffraction results indicated that pure BGFO ceramics could be obtained. The morphologies of the BGFO are investigated by scanning electron microscopy. All the samples are well compact without pores and the grain are agglomerated. The dielectric constant increases and dielectric loss decreases with increasing Gd3+ contents. The value of Ac-conductivity of Bi0.95Gd0.05FeO3 at 1000 kHz is in the order of similar to 10(-4), which is several orders of magnitude larger than that of Bi0.7Gd0.3FeO3. The double peaks appearing in the plots of M' and M '' with frequency for x=0.30 confirms the coexistence of grainand grain boundary effects. The introduction of Gd into BiFeO3 ceramics was found to improve the saturated magnetization value dramatically.