Augmentation of optical and magnetic characteristics at ambient temperature in bismuth ferrite-titanium (BiFe_1–xTi_xO₃) multiferroic compounds

Abstract

A facile sol-gel approach was utilized to synthesis BiFe1-xTixO3 multiferroic ferrites, denoted as BFO-xTi (with x from 0.00 to 0.10). XRD analysis revealed that the undoped BFO ferrite exhibited a rhombohedral structure, and a transition from the rhombohedral phase to the pseudo-cubic phase occurred as the Ti content increased. The optical band gap increased from 2.00 eV to 2.23 eV with a Ti substitution at 0.10 mol. The magnetic properties exhibited a transition from antiferromagnetic to ferromagnetic phase due to the structural phase transition and super-exchange interaction between the 3d orbitals of Ti4+ and Fe3+/Fe2+ at the B-sites through oxygen vacacies. The sample with a 0.10 mol Ti substitution demonstrated the highest Ms and Mr values of 3.68 emu g-1 and 7.21 × 10-3 emu g-1, respectively. Overall, the results suggest that the BiFe1-xTixO3 multiferroic ferrites with optimal composition hold promise for use in magneto-optical devices.