Structural and electrical characteristics of (Co, Ti) modified BiFeO3

• DOI: 10.1007/s10854-016-4674-3
• Publication Date: 2016-03-19T14:52:10Z
• Authors: Alok Shukla; Nitin Kumar; C. Behera; R. N. P. Choudhary
• Keywords: 0103 physical sciences; 01 natural sciences

The present paper mainly reports the synthesis and characterization of multi-doped bismuth ferrite Bi(Co1/4Ti1/4Fe1/2)O3 (BCTF) ceramic. The polycrystalline BCTF material was synthesized at room temperature in ambient conditions using a standard high-temperature solid-state reaction technique. Room temperature structural analysis of BCTF using X-ray diffraction data shows the formation of a single-phase compound with orthorhombic structure. Average particles size, calculated from peak profile of some reflections, was found to be about 30 nm. Room temperature surface morphologies and textures of the sample, recorded by a field-emission scanning electron microscope, reveal the uniform distribution of grains on the surfaces of the sample. The co-substitution of Co2+ and Ti4+ at the Fe3+-site of BiFeO3 enhances its various properties with significant reduction of electrical leakage current. Studies of some electrical characteristics (dielectric, tangent loss, modulus and complex impedance spectroscopy) of (Co, Ti) modified BiFeO3 pellets were determined in different experimental conditions which have provided better understanding of the relaxation process and correlations between the microstructure-electrical properties relationship. Impedance and modulus plots were used as tools to analyse the frequency response on electrical characteristics of the material. Analysis of the frequency dependence of the real and imaginary impedance shows the existence of non-Debye type of relaxation in the material.