Structural and multiferroic properties of the Ce-doped BiFeO3 thin films

Multiferroic thin films of Ce-doped Bi1-xCexFeO3 (BCFOx) with x = 0-0.12 were successfully prepared on Pt/TiO2/SiO2/Si substrates by chemical solution deposition. With the increase of Ce content, a gradual phase transition from a rhombohedral to a pseudotetragonal structure was observed in the BCFOx films. BCFOx films with x = 0.03 exhibited low leakage current, a square-shaped P-E hysteresis loop with a remanent polarization (2P(r)) of 143.4 mu C cm(-2), and improved anti-fatigue characteristics after 10(10) read/write polarization cycles. The ferromagnetism of these films was demonstrated and the saturation magnetization increased with the increase of Ce content. The possible reasons for the enhanced ferroelectric properties and the magnetization were analyzed. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.