Structure, electricity, and bandgap modulation in Fe2O3-doped potassium sodium niobate ceramics

Perovskite materials possess promising application prospects in photovoltaics and are most likely to replace the dominance of silicon-based solar photovoltaic materials. (K0.5Na0.5)NbO3-xFe(2)O(3) perovskite ferroelectric ceramics (x = 0, 0.01, and 0.05) were prepared using a conventional solid-state reaction method. We systematically analyzed the structural, morphological, electric, magnetic, and optical properties. Structural and morphological features of the as-prepared ceramics show that the phases of the materials all are orthorhombic. The appropriate amount of Fe2O3 introduced will improve the electrical properties. Magnetic switching corresponding to a diamagnetic-ferromagnetic transformation was observed. Bandgap (E-g) modulation was achieved in the Fe2O3-doped KNN ceramics, with the E-g exhibiting a drastic decrease as the doping content increased in experiment where the E-g = 2.886, 2.232, and 2.061 eV when x = 0, 0.01, and 0.05, and the CASTEP calculation shows a similar trend, indicating that the materials exhibit a higher performance with the absorption in visible light.