Issue 51, 2017

Ferromagnetic-like behaviour in bismuth ferrite films prepared by electrodeposition and subsequent heat treatment

Abstract

Bismuth ferrite (BiFeO3) films (10 μm in thickness) are synthesized by electrodeposition from a dimethylformamide bath containing Bi and Fe nitrate salts as precursors followed by heat treatment in air. Thermal treatments are needed to induce crystallisation of the as-deposited amorphous-like films. A detailed morphological, structural and magnetic characterisation evidences that BiFeO3 forms in a rather narrow temperature window (around 600 °C). At lower and higher temperatures, secondary binary and ternary oxides are also formed. Soft ferromagnetic-like behaviour is observed in all films, which presumably arises from the obtained nanoscale structure, which favours the occurrence of spin canting in the BiFeO3 antiferromagnetic phase. The eventual contribution from secondary phases to the observed ferromagnetic-like response is also discussed. The obtained results are appealing for the integration of BiFeO3 into devices that may require relatively thick films with an enhanced surface area-to-volume ratio. The growth of this type of material by techniques other than electrodeposition is not straightforward.

Graphical abstract: Ferromagnetic-like behaviour in bismuth ferrite films prepared by electrodeposition and subsequent heat treatment

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
18 Apr 2017
Accepted
16 Jun 2017
First published
23 Jun 2017
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

RSC Adv., 2017,7, 32133-32138

Ferromagnetic-like behaviour in bismuth ferrite films prepared by electrodeposition and subsequent heat treatment

D. Bilican, E. Menéndez, J. Zhang, P. Solsona, J. Fornell, E. Pellicer and J. Sort, RSC Adv., 2017, 7, 32133 DOI: 10.1039/C7RA04375A

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