In this study we report the synthesis of BiFeO(3) nanorods using a sonochemical technique. The nanorods had a diameter of 20-50 nm, a length of 100-500 nm and exhibit aspect ratios in the range of 5-10. However, after doping, the TEM images of Bi(0.9)Ba(0.1)Fe(0.9)Mn(0.1)O(3) and Bi(0.9)Ca(0.1)Fe(0.9)Cr(0.1)O(3) samples show that the aspect ratios of both the double doped samples have reduced considerably, while retaining the crystallinity of the particles. BiFeO(3) nanorods show a weak ferromagnetic order at room temperature, which is quite different from the linear M-H relationship reported for bulk BiFeO(3). The saturation magnetization of these BiFeO(3) nanostructures has been found to increase on doping with various metal ions (Ba(2+), Ca(2+), Mn(2+), Cr(3+)), reaching a maximum value of 1.35 emu g(-1) for the Bi(0.9)Ba(0.1)Fe(0.9)Mn(0.1)O(3) nanostructures. However, saturation of electric polarization was observed only in case of the Bi(0.9)Ca(0.1)Fe(0.9)Cr(0.1)O(3) nanostructures.

Ba and Mn doped BiFeO3 prepared through the pyrolysis of xerogel precursors are characterized by powder x-ray diffraction, high resolution transmission electron microscopy, superconducting quantum interference device magnetometry, and polarization measurements. Structural studies by x-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy show a tetragonal lattice for Ba substituted BiFeO3 and a rhombohedral lattice for Mn substituted BiFeO3. A large ferromagnetic hysteresis loop is observed for Ba doped BiFeO3. Coexistence of distorted rhombohedral and tetragonal phases is observed in Ba and Mn codoped BiFeO3, where enhanced ferroelectric and ferromagnetic properties are produced by the internal strain. Density functional calculations are used to substantiate the results.

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The authors report the room temperature gas sensitivity of ultrathin SnO2 films prepared by thermal decomposition of multilayer Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) films. The SnO2 films, which are characterized by various spectroscopic techniques and electrical measurements, have been shown to sense ammonia gas at room temperature with fast response and recovery. The presence of a large number of surface states in the ultrathin SnO2 film is responsible for the room temperature gas sensitivity. Present results demonstrate the potential of LB technique to fabricate high quality ultrathin oxide films useful for sensor applications.

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