Magnetic behaviour of Er and Mg doped Bismuth ferrite Nanocomposites: Synthesis and its Characterization.

Multiferroic materials have significant attention due to the coupled magnetic, ferro- electric and ferro-elastic orders. Among all multiferroic materials, bismuth ferrites (BiFeO3, BFO) are the only single-phase room temperature multiferroic materials known, and have multifunctional applications. Bismuth ferrite possesses magnetic ordering of antiferromagnetic with a spatially modulated spin structure. Consequently, many researchers are engaged in releasing the ferromagnetism from space-modulated spin structure. This paper provides insights into the synthesis and characterization of Er3+ and Mg2+ co–doped single-phase BFO nanocomposites namely BEFO, BEFMO–1 and BEFMO–2 with different mole ratios of magnesium by sol-gel method. FT – IR spectra confirmed the presence of Bi/Er –O bonds in doped BFO and the Raman spectra indicates the structural transformation of rhombohedral to orthorhombic. SEM images showed the undoped and doped BFO nanocomposites synthesized were spherical in shape and PL studies revealed that the reduction in the density of oxygen vacancies causing decrease in electron-hole recombination. Bismuth ferrites provide enhanced magnetic (Ms, Mr and Hc) behaviours due to doping of Er and Mg.