Studies on structural and electrical properties of transition metal ions (Mn, Co and Cu) co-doped Bi_0.9Dy_0.1FeO₃ thin films

Effects of rare earth Dy and transition metal (TM = Cu, Co and Mn) ions co-doping on the structural, electrical and ferroelectric properties of the BiFeO₃ thin films prepared on Pt(111)/Ti/SiO₂/Si(100) substrates by using a chemical solution deposition method were investigated. All thin films formed as randomly oriented polycrystalline, with no detectable impurity or secondary phases. Among the thin films, the (Bi_0.9Dy_0.1)(Fe_0.975Mn_0.025)O₃ thin film exhibited well saturated hysteresis loops with remnant polarization (2P _r ) of 51 μC/cm² and low coercive electric field (2E _c ) of 685 at 935 kV/cm and low leakage current density of 1.4 × 10⁻⁵ A/cm² at 100 kV/cm. The enhanced properties observed in the co-doped thin films could be considered as being the results of the suppression of ionic defects and of the modified microstructure.