Tuning the Structural and Optical Properties
of Bismuth Titanate by Different Nd
Substitution Content

Abstract

We report the structural and optical properties variation of Bi_4-xNd_xTi₃O₁₂ by different Nd substitution content for the first time. Bi_4-xNd_xTi₃O₁₂ thin films were fabricated by sol-gel process. X-ray diffraction and Raman scattering analysis reveal degradation in crystallinity and increase in distortion upon Nd doping. Grain size is suppressed as the increase of Nd content. Optical transmittance decreases from 63% to 43% at the wavelength of 600 nm as the Nd content increases from 0 to 0.85. Band gap energy increases from 3.4 to 3.5 eV when Nd content increases. Refractive index and extinction coefficient variations are also investigated.

Keywords:

• Ferroelectrics
• BNdT
• optical properties
• sol-gel

Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), le Fonds québécois de la recherche sur la nature et les technologies (FQRNT), National Natural Science Foundation of China (61025021, 60936002, 51072089, 61011130296, and 61020106006), the National Key Project of Science and Technology (2009ZX02023-001-3, 2011ZX02403-002) and Beijing NSF (3111002) for their financial support.