Magnetic, magnetocapacitance and dielectric properties of Cr doped bismuth ferrite nanoceramics

BiFe1−xCrxO3 (x = 0, 0.04, 0.06 and 0.08) nanoceramics were prepared by sol–gel method. Nanoceramics were calcined at 450 °C. Calcined powders were leached in diluted nitric acid to get single phase. TEM analysis shows the particle size to be ∼80 nm. Thermogravimetric analysis of as prepared powder indicates that the single phase is formed at around 450 °C. Magnetization was found to increase as the concentration of Cr was increased. Dielectric constant and dielectric loss were found to decrease with increase in frequency for all the compositions. Magnetocapacitance was found to increase with magnetic field. For BiFe1−xCrxO3 (x = 0.04, 0.06 and 0.08) nanoceramics, the change of dielectric constant induced by magnetic field may be well approximated by Δɛ/ɛ = γM2, here, γ (magnetoelectric interaction) is small and positive. A linear fit gave the value of γ of ∼18.4 × 10−2, 12.3 × 10−2 and 3.3 × 10−2 for BiFe1−xCrxO3 (x = 0.04, 0.06 and 0.08) nanoceramics, respectively.