Synthesis and characterization of magneto electric coupling in nanostructured BiFeO3and BiFe1-xMxO3 (M = Mn, Co, etc.) thin films for spintronics application

In a recent study, researchers employed sol-gel deposition techniques to fabricate both pure BiFeO3 and heterostructured BiFeO3/BiFe1-xMxO3 thin films. The aim was to enhance the magnetic properties of BiFeO3 through doping with Co3+ and Mn3+. The team successfully prepared pure BiFeO3 (BFO) and doped BiFe1-xMxO3 films with varying concentrations of Mn and Co ions. XRD and Raman spectroscopy studies demonstrated that Co3+ and Mn3+ ions successfully substituted Fe3+ ions within the rhombohedral lattice structure of BFO. The pure BiFeO3 films showed stable and consistent responses when exposed to light, achieving an open circuit potential of -0.18 V and a short circuit photocurrent density of -0.024 mA/cm². Additionally, the incorporation of Co3+ and Mn3+ ions led to a decrease in the average particle size. Recent research using Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) data has demonstrated that replacing Co3+ and Mn3+ with Fe3+ in Perovskite structures greatly diminishes oxygen defects. This substitution also raises the concentration of Fe3+ ions at the B-site. Complementary X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) analysis confirms these results, showing improved magnetic properties in the thin film. Notably, the BFMnC0.08 O thin film exhibits a significant increase in both saturation and remanent magnetization at room temperature. Additionally, computational calculations reveal that CO exhibits a strong preference for adsorption on Mn-doped BiFeO3, with an adsorption energy calculated at - 1.0494 eV.