La Mn O 3 effects on the ferroelectric and magnetic properties of chemical solution deposited BiFeO3 thin films

Thin films of the BiFeO3–LaMnO3 solid solution were processed on (111)-Pt∕Ti∕SiO2∕Si substrates via spin coating. Microstructure, and leakage current, ferroelectric and magnetic properties are reported. It is shown that the addition of 5mol% LaMnO3 substantially improves the properties. Leakage currents that are several orders of magnitude lower than those of pure BiFeO3 were obtained. The leakage currents follow the Poole-Frenkel mechanism, and a trap depth of 0.94eV was obtained. The addition of LaMnO3 resulted in saturated polarization hysteresis loops with a high remnant polarization 2Pr of 88μC∕cm2. Finally, LaMnO3 also leads to higher coercive fields but smaller saturation magnetization.