MOCVD Growth of Perovskite Multiferroic BiFeO3 Films: The Effect of Doping at the A and/or B Sites on the Structural, Morphological and Ferroelectric Properties

• Published in: Advanced materials interfaces Vol. 4; no. 8
• Main Authors: Catalano, Maria Rita, Spedalotto, Giuseppe, Condorelli, Guglielmo Guido, Malandrino, Graziella
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Weinheim John Wiley & Sons, Inc 21.04.2017
• Subjects: bismuth ferrite; epitaxy; Morphology; multiferroic; Organic chemicals; perovskite; PFM
• ISSN: 2196-7350; 2196-7350
• DOI: 10.1002/admi.201601025

Bismuth ferrite (BiFeO3) materials have been the subject of intense research activity in the last two decades. The great interest arises from the BiFeO3 being one of the rare multiferroic compounds in which ferroelectricity and magnetism coexist at room temperature. To improve these properties several studies have been reported on the doping at the A and/or B sites of the BiFeO3 perovskite structure. In this short review, the attention is focused to the synthesis of BiFeO3 and BiFeO3 doped with Ba or Dy at the A site and Ti at the B site through Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD). The applied MOCVD process consists of an in situ one step approach using a multi‐metal source precursor mixture containing the Bi(phenyl)3 and Fe(tmhd)3 (phenyl = ‐C6H5; H‐tmhd = 2,2,6,6‐tetramethyl‐3,5‐heptandione) as source of Bi and Fe ions. This study evidences the effect of doping on the structural, morphological and piezo/ferroelectric properties of BiFeO3 and doped systems. In summary, this mini‐review illustrates the possibility to apply a simple MOCVD approach to produce good quality pure and doped BiFeO3 films. The applicability of the metal‐organic chemical vapor deposition to the synthesis of pure and doped BiFeO3 is exploited. Structure, morphology and ferroelectric properties are related to the presence and nature of the doping ions. A correlation between the nanostructure/composition and piezoelectric properties is highlighted.