Effect of Europium Substitution on the Magnetic and Optical Properties of Nanostructured Bismuth ferrite

摘要

Single phase Bi_(1-x)Eu_xFeO_3 multiferroic nanoparticles were synthesized by tartaric acid assisted sol-gel method and the effect of Eu substitution in Bismuth ferrite (BFO) was investigated on the structural, optical and magnetic properties. It was observed a gradual structural transition from rhombohedral R3c to orthorhombic Pbnm with the increase of Eu content resulted from the lattice distortion in BFO system due to the smaller radius of Eu~(3+) ions. The optical band gap of BFO was altered with respect to the change of particle sizes with the increment of Eu content. The magnetic property of Bi_(1-x)Eu_xFeO_3 system was found to be increased with the increase of Eu substitution. This might be attributed to the substitution-induced suppression of spiral spin modulation caused by an appropriate substitution of Eu in the BFO system.