Enhanced magnetic performance of BiFeO3 by cerium substitution.

Micrometre-sized pure BiFeO 3 (BF) and Ce-doped Bi 0.9 Ce 0.1 FeO 3 (BCF) powders were synthesized by using conventional hydrothermal (H) and microwave assisted hydrothermal (MH) methods. The BF-H and BCF-H show obviously enhanced weak ferromagnetic characteristic, in which the BCF-H exhibits excellent magnetic performance, with significantly increased maximum magnetization of ∼3.6 emu/g (under 50 kOe magnetic field) and remanent magnetization of ∼0.268 emu/g at room temperature. The superior magnetic property of BCF-H could be attributed to the suppression of spiral structure and the modulation of canting angle of spins in antiferromagnetic sublattices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]