Dielectric, ferroelectric and magnetic properties of Mn-doped LuFeO3 ceramics

Abstract

LuFe1−xMnxO3 (x = 0, 0.05) ceramics with the orthorhombic distorted perovskite structure in space group Pbnm were synthesized using a solid-state reaction process. The dielectric, ferroelectric, and magnetic properties were investigated systematically. With Mn-substitution, the low temperature dielectric relaxation was suppressed and only one dielectric anomaly around 360–530 K was observed. Obvious ferroelectric hysteresis loops were detected at room temperature in LuFe0.95Mn0.05O3, the smaller polarization compared with LuFeO3 suggested the important role of the electron hopping between Fe2+ and Fe3+ ions in ferroelectricity. The results of thermal analysis indicated that the Néel temperature decreased with Mn-substitution, which could be ascribed to the weaker Fe3+-Mn3+ and Mn3+-Mn3+ exchange interactions compared with Fe3+-Fe3+ interaction. Due to the strong anisotropy of Mn3+ ions, a spin reorientation transition could be induced in LuFe0.95Mn0.05O3. Moreover, weak ferromagnetic characteristic was also detected at room temperature in LuFe0.95Mn0.05O3 ceramics.