Crystal structure and multiferroic properties of the BiFeO3-PrFeO3-DyFeO3-BaTiO3 systems

The binary and quaternary solid solutions (1-x)BiFeO3-xPrFeO(3) and BiFeO3-PrFeO3-DyFeO3-BaTiO3 have been investigated for attaining ferromagnetic ferroelectricity in bulk ceramics. The coexistence of ferromagnetism and ferroelectricity has been observed only in the quaternary compositions, 0.4BiFeO(3)-0.1PrFeO(3)-0.1DyFeO(3)-0.4BaTiO(3) (M-r = 0.04 emu/g, P-r = 4.2 muC/cm(2)) and 0.45BiFeO(3)-0.075PrFeO(3)-0.025DyFeO(3)-0.45BaTiO(3) (Mr = 0.03 emu/g, Pr = 1.0 muC/cm(2)). The introduction of DyFeO3 into the ternary 0.45BiFeO(3)-0.1PrFeO(3)-0.45BaTiO(3) resulted in the production of spontaneous magnetization. The binary (1 -x)BiFeO3-xPrFeO(3) solid solution showed spontaneous magnetization at x greater than or equal to 0.2, but showed paraelectric behavior. The crystal structures have been analyzed using neutron and XRD diffraction data. (C) 2004 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.