Structural, magnetic and ferroelectric properties of magnetoelectrically coupled xBa0.95Sr0.05TiO3-(1–x)BiFe0.90Sm0.10O3 ceramics

ABSTRACT The standard solid state reaction method was followed to synthesize the polycrystalline xBa0.95Sr0.05TiO3-(1–x)BiFe0.9Sm0.1O3 [xBST-(1–x)BFSmO, x = 0–0.35] ceramics. The XRD pattern revealed a structural transition of the prepared ceramics from rhombohedral to cubic symmetry. The mean grain size was estimated in the micrometer range, with values ranging from 0.40 to 1.95 μm. The maximum real part of the complex initial permeability of 28.26 was noticed for x = 0.30 multiferroic ceramics. The highest remanent magnetization determined for the x = 0.30 sample was 3.4 10−2 emu/g. For the sample with x = 0.35 the maximum recorded dielectric constant was found to be 677 at 103 Hz. A small value of dielectric loss (<5%) was observed. The compound exhibited significant remanent polarization and a reduction in the leakage current. In addition, the investigated materials comprise large magnetoelectric coefficients and the optimum magnetoelectric coefficient of 0.662 mV.cm−1.Oe−1was obtained for the x = 0.30 composition.