Synthesis and Characterization of Cr-Doped Pb2Fe2O5 Thin Films by Reactive Magnetron Sputtering

Abstract

Multiferroic materials, which exhibit simultaneous ferroelectricity, ferromagnetism, and ferro-elasticity, have attracted significant attention due to their multifunctional properties. Coupling between ferroelectric and magnetic properties has led to the development of non-volatile memory devices, transducers, magnetic field sensors, and other applications. Pb2Fe2O5 (PFO) is a promising multiferroic material due to it simultaneously exhibiting ferroelectricity and ferromagnetism at room temperature. Doping with aliovalent ions, such as Cr3+, has been proposed as an effective method for enhancing the ferroelectric and magnetic properties, consequently leading to the enhancement of multiferroic properties. The investigation shows that the lead ferrite phase (220) was present in all samples, but its abundance reduced with increasing synthesis temperature due to lead desorption. Dielectric measurements revealed that PFO films with highest Cr concentration had the highest polarization (Pr) of 72.2 μC cm−2. The study also found that the magnetization of PFO films was up to 9.5·10−7 μAm2 at an ambient temperature of 5 K, and the magnetic ordering temperature was 363 K, corresponding to the magnetic ordering temperature of chromium oxides. The morphology of Cr doped PFO films changed with increasing chromium content, resulting in a reduction in grain size and an increase in the film density.