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The BiFeO3 nanoparticles, having an average size of 13 nm, were synthesized by a simple sol-gel method. The samples possess single phase up to 2% Eu doping at the Bi site. The uncompensated spin moments on the surface and the modification of cycloidal spin structure due to the small size (13 nm) result in a ferromagnetic phase of the BiFeO3 nanoparticles. The successful doping of magnetically active Eu3+ ions in BiFeO3 nanoparticles improves the ferromagnetic property. The similar dependency of saturation magnetization, coercive field, and dielectric constant on Eu doping concentration reveals that a correlation between magnetic and dielectric properties exists in Eu-doped BiFeO3 nanoparticles.

Solid solution of nickel ferrite (NiFe2O4) and barium titanate (BaTiO3), (100-x)BaTiO3–(x) NiFe2O4 has been prepared by solid state reaction. Compressive strain is developed in NiFe2O4 due to mutual structural interaction across the interface of NiFe2O4 and BaTiO3 phases. Quantitative analysis of X-ray diffraction and X-ray photo electron spectrum suggest mixed spinel structure of NiFe2O4. A systematic study of composition dependence of composite indicates BaTiO3 causes a random distribution of Fe and Ni cations among octahedral and tetrahedral sites during non-equilibrium growth of NiFe2O4. The degree of inversion decreases monotonically from 0.97 to 0.75 with increase of BaTiO3 content. Temperature dependence of magnetization has been analyzed by four sublattice model to describe complex magnetic exchange interactions in mixed spinel phase. Curie temperature and saturation magnetization decrease with increase of BaTiO3 concentration. Enhancement of strain and larger occupancy of Ni2+ at tetrahedral site increase coercivity up to 200 Oe. Magnetostructual coupling induced by BaTiO3 improves coercivity in NiFe2O4. An increase in the demagnetization and homogeneity in magnetization process in NiFe2O4 is observed due to the interaction with diamagnetic BaTiO3.

Temperature evolution of magnetic properties in Ba and Ti doped SrRuO3 has been investigated to observe the effects of larger ionic radius Ba at Sr site and isovalent nonmagnetic impurity Ti at Ru site. Ionic radius mismatch and different electronic configuration in comparison with Ru modify Sr(Ba)-O and Ru(Ti)-O bond lengths and Ru-O-Ru bond angle. The apical and basal Ru-O-Ru bond angles vary significantly with Ti doping. Ferromagnetic Curie temperature decreases from 161 K to 149 K monotonically with Ba (10%) and Ti (10%) substitutions at Sr and Ru sites. The zero field cooled (ZFC) magnetization reveals a prominent peak which shifts towards lower temperature with application of magnetic field. The substitution of tetravalent Ti with localized 3d0 orbitals for Ru with more delocalized 4d4 orbitals leads to a broad peak in ZFC magnetization. A spontaneous ZFC magnetization becomes negative below 160 K for all the compositions. The occurrence of both normal and inverse magnetocaloric effects in Ba and Ti co-doped SrRuO3 makes the system more interesting.

Electric and magnetic properties of Sr1-xBaxRu1-xTixO3 (0 ⩽ x ⩽ 0.8) have been investigated to find the interrelationship between metallicity and ferromagnetism in SrRuO3 (SRO). The simultaneous doping of Sr and Ru with Ba and Ti results in single phase SRO at x = 0.1 and mixed phase of SRO and hexagonal BaTiO3 (h-BTO) at x ⩾ 0.2. Co-doping at Sr and Ru sites gives rise to oxygen vacancy and mixed valency of Ru (Ru(3+) and Ru(4+)). Room temperature resistivity increases due to modification of p(O)-d(Ru) hybridization and phase segregation. Temperature dependent resistivity reveals metal-insulator transition around 232 K at x = 0.1 and insulator down to 2 K at x ⩾ 0.2. The insulating state (x = 0.1) at low temperature is well described by weak localization and electron-electron interaction. Temperature dependence of resistivity (x ⩾ 0.2) follows Mott's three dimensional variable range hopping model. Localization length and average hopping distance decrease with the increase of x, indicating the presence of more disorder. Ferromagnetic transition temperature decreases to 149 K at x = 0.1 and remains constant up to x = 0.5. The Curie-Wiess (CW) temperature (ΘCW) decreases monotonically and becomes negative at x = 0.5. The effective magnetic moment estimated from CW law is smaller than that of pure SRO due to the formation of Ru(3+) ions. The saturation magnetization diminishes, suggesting the demagnetization factor owing to diamagnetic h-BTO. The coercivity increases from 6700 Oe (x = 0) to 12 500 Oe (x = 0.4) and then decreases to 3700 Oe (x = 0.5). Ferromagnetic cluster comprising of doped SRO gives rise to the formation of a Griffith-like phase. The co-occurrence of high jump in resistivity ratio and disappearance of ferromagnetism suggests an interplay between transport process and magnetism at low temperature.