Structural, Microstructural, Magnetic, Ferroelectric, and Energy Bandgap Analysis of Heavily-Doped Pr at Bi Site of BiFeO3

A series of Pr substituted at the Bi site of BiFeO3 were synthesized by the sonochemical method. The Pr composition was varied from low to high level at Bi1-xPrxFeO3 (x = 0.0, 0.05, 0.10, and 0.15) to analyze the impact on structural, magnetic, ferroelectric, electrical, morphological, and semiconducting properties. The X-ray diffraction pattern reveals a phase transformation from rhombohedral (R3c) to orthorhombic (Pnma) phase in Bi0.85Pr0.15FeO3 sample. The diffuse reflectance spectra (DRS) exhibit bands in the ultraviolet and visible region. The energy bandgap values are in the range of 2.12 to 2.10 eV and the gap decreases as the concentration of Pr increases in Bi1-xPrxFeO3. Our study shows that the higher Pr dopant improved the ferroelectric and magnetic properties indicating that they are good multiferroic materials. It was noted that the leakage current and the remnant magnetization are less in 15% Pr substituted BiFeO3. The enhanced magnetic, ferroelelctric with low leakage current and low bandgap at high doping levels speculate the possibility of these materials for suitable applications. The doped samples are found to be smart materials as they exhibit multiferroic properties and dilute magnetic semiconducting properties.