Structural, magnetic, and ferroelectric properties of multiferroic BiFeO3 film fabricated by chemical solution deposition

Abstract

Polycrystalline BiFeO3 film has been fabricated by a chemical solution deposition on Pt∕Ti∕SiO2∕Si(100) substrates. A ferroelectric hysteresis loop showed a high remanent polarization of 47μC∕cm2 at room temperature. Leakage current density was on the order of 10−1A∕cm2 at 100kV∕cm, indicating the high leakage current density in the present BiFeO3 film. The leakage current mechanism could be considered as follows: Ohmic conduction at low electric field and Poole-Frenkel trap-assisted conduction appeared as the electric field increased, and space-charge-limited current started at a high electric field. Weak ferromagnetism was observed at room temperature, and magnetic coercivity increased to 0.5kOe with small remanent magnetization of 2emu∕cm3 at 10K. In order to investigate the magnetoelectric effect of the BiFeO3 film, the ferroelectric hysteresis loop was measured under the magnetic field of 5kG at room temperature.