Structural Refinement and Ferroic Properties in BiFeO₃–Based Compounds

Abstract

Nanostructured BiFeO₃ - XTiO₃ (X = Ba or Pb) multiferroic ceramics were processed by mechanosynthesis and a detailed structural study was conducted through Rietveld refinement of X-ray diffraction patterns. It was found that the structural and ferroic properties have been improved by the formation of double-phased compounds in both cases. In fact, ferroelectric investigations indicated a structurally tuned ferroic state, where the ferroelectricity is strongly affected by the coexistence of two distinct symmetries in BiFeO₃ -based solid solutions.

Keywords:

• Multiferroic
• ferroelectrics
• magnetoelectrics
• structural refinement

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the Brazilian agencies CNPq (proc. 476964/2009-1 and 552900/2009-5), FAPESP (proc. 2008/04025-0), Fundação Araucária de Apoio ao Desenvolvimento Científico do Paraná (Prot. 10779 and 15727), and CAPES (PROCAD 082/2007) for financial support.