Study of effect of Dy substitution on structural, dielectric, impedance and magnetic properties of bismuth ferrite

This communication mainly reports the synthesis and characterization of dysprosium (Dy)-doped bismuth ferrite [i.e., Bi(Fe_0.95Dy_0.05)O₃ (referred as BFDO5)] compound. A conventional high-temperature solid-state reaction technique has been utilized for synthesizing the material at a temperature of 800 °C. The structural study of the prepared sample, carried out using X-ray diffraction data, reveals the creation of a single-phase compound having an orthorhombic crystal structure. The average crystallite size, obtained from the measurement of high-intensity X-ray diffraction peaks of the BFDO5 material, was found to be 38 nm. The purity of the prepared compound and concentration of its constituent elements were confirmed by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDXS) data. The field effect scanning electron microscope (FESEM) image clearly shows the surface morphology and regular distribution of the composite grains over its surface. Detailed analysis of the dielectric and impedance data, measured in a broad range of frequency (1–1000 kHz) and temperature (25–500 °C), has shown a significant improvement in the dielectric and electrical properties of the prepared material. The electrical polarization measurement, done by P–E hysteresis loop tracer, shows the existence and enhancement of ferroelectric property of the material. Room temperature measurement of its magnetization was carried out by using vibrating sample magnetometer that shows a significant enhancement in a remnant magnetization as compared to pure bismuth ferrite.