Effect of Nd-doping on structure and microwave electromagnetic properties of BiFeO3.

The single-phase Bi 1- x Nd x FeO 3 ( x =0, 0.05, 0.10, 0.15, 0.20) were synthesized by the sol-gel method. Their crystal structure and microwave electromagnetic property in the frequency range of 2–18 GHz were investigated. The XRD patterns and Raman spectra showed that structural transition from rhombohedral ( x =0, 0.05, 0.1) to triclinic ( x =0.15) and tetragonal structure ( x =0.20) appeared in the Bi 1- x Nd x FeO 3 . Electromagnetic measurement suggested that both microwave permeability μ′ and magnetic loss tanδ m increased remarkably over 2–18 GHz by doping Nd. Strong dielectric loss peak was observed on the samples of Bi 1- x Nd x FeO 3 ( x =0.15) and Bi 1- x Nd x FeO 3 ( x =0.2). Results show that Nd substitution is an effective way to push BiFeO 3 to become microwave absorbing materials with high performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]