Room-temperature multiferroic properties of Bi4.15Nd0.85Ti3FeO15 thin films prepared by the metal-organic decomposition method

Aurivillius-structured Bi4.15Nd0.85Ti3FeO15 multiferroic thin films with four perovskite slabs were deposited on Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si substrates by the metal-organic decomposition method. The structural, dielectric and multiferroic properties of the films were investigated. Good ferroelectric behavior along with large dielectric constant and small loss factor were observed at room temperature. A weak ferromagnetic rather than an antiferromagnetic property was observed at room temperature by magnetic measurement. Moreover, the ferromagnetic property was enhanced when the temperature was below 13 K and a large saturation magnetization of about 5.4 emu/cm(3) was obtained at 4 K. Possible reasons are put forward to discuss the complicated magnetic property. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.