Studies on multiferroic properties of single phasic Bi<inf>0.85</inf>Ho<inf>0.05</inf>Sm<inf>0.1</inf>FeO<inf>3</inf> ceramics

Single-phase polycrystalline Bi0.85Ho0.05Sm0.1FeO3 ceramic is prepared by conventional solid state route. The co-doping of Sm and Ho (via Bi site) in BiFeO3 controls the formation of secondary phases. The Rietveld refinement analysis shows an increasing trend in tilt angle due to the rotation of FeO6 octohedra with respect to host BiFeO3. The remanent polarization and the magnetization of Bi0.85Ho0.05Sm0.1FeO3 ceramic are found to be significantly improved than BiFeO3 and Bi0.9Sm0.1FeO3 at room-temperature. Considerable variations in the remanent polarization (0.18 to 0.11 μC/cm2) on magnetic poling and a dielectric anomaly in the vicinity of the antiferromagnetic transition temperature are due to the intrinsic magnetoelectric coupling effect in Bi0.85Ho0.05Sm0.1FeO3 ceramic. The dielectric permittivity increases with increase in applied magnetic field and the coupling coefficient of Bi0.85Ho0.05Sm0.1FeO3 ceramic is found to be 0.91% at 4 kOe.