Effect of (Zn, Mn) co-doping on the structure and ferroelectric properties of BiFeO3 thin films

Brief Theoretical Overview of Bi-Fe-O Based Thin Films

“…Evaporation of Bi atoms and oxygen vacancies is an unavoidable side effect of production of BFO films. The most promising materials to enhance multiferroic properties and decrease parasitic current are Mn [44] and Ni [45] due to similar atomic radius of Fe cations and chemical valence stability (Table 1). The typical structure of thin films of BFO material is represented by a multilayer structure (Figure 16).…”

Narrow Bandgap Inorganic Ferroelectric Thin Film Materials

“…[ 71 ] For BFO thin films system, most of them are doped at A and B site to further reduce the bandgap of the film, to maintain certain ferroelectric properties of the material while improving its photovoltaic performance. For example, the BiFeO 3 (BFO) system film materials are doped with A site as KBiFe 2 O 5 , [ 72 ] Bi 0.9 La 0.1 FeO 3 , [ 73 ] Bi 0.85 La 0.15 FeO 3 (BLFO), [ 74 ] and the B site doped with BiFe 0.6 Sc 0.4 O 3 (BFSO), [ 75 ] BiFe 0.91 Zr 0.09 O 3 (BFZO), [ 76 ] BiFe 0.75 Cr 0.25 O 3 (BFCO), [ 77 ] BiFe 0.96 Zn 0.02 Mn 0.02 O 3 (BFZMO), [ 78 ] Bi 5 FeTi 3 O 15 (BFTO), [ 79 ] Bi 2 FeMo 0.7 Ni 0.3 O 6 (BFMNO), [ 50 ] A and B sites are doped with Bi 0.925 Sm 0.075 Fe 0.95 Co 0.05 O 3 (BSFCO), [ 80 ] Bi 0.9 Sm 0.1 Fe 0.97 Hf 0.03 O 3 (BSFHO), [ 81 ] Bi 0.88 Ce 0.12 Fe 0.9 Mn 0.1 O 3 (BCFMO). [ 82 ] It can be seen in Table 1 that the h ‐RFO and h‐ RMO systems in single crystal films have the smallest bandgap value at present, which has great research value.…”

“…Defects in the film (vacancies and interstitial ions) trap free carriers and create a local electric field opposite to the external electric field, making the conduction mode change to SCLC. [ 78 ] It is well illustrated that the appropriate amount of doping ions is beneficial to improve the electrical properties of the films and reduce the J leak .…”

“…c) the J leak and log J-log E curves of thin films. Reproduced with permission [78]. Copyright 2022, Elsevier.…”