Improved electrical and ferroelectric properties of multiferroic Na0.5Bi0.5TiO3/Bi1.07Nd0.03FeO3/Na0.5Bi0.5TiO3 sandwiched structure by a sol-gel process

A ferroelectric/multiferroic/ferroelectric sandwiched structure composed by Na0.5Bi0.5TiO3 (NBT) and Bi1.07Nd0.03FeO3 (BNF) with a LaNiO3 buffer layer were prepared by a sol-gel method. X-ray diffraction indicated the NBT/BNF/NBT films exhibited a pure perovskite structure. The average grain size of BNF and NBT/BNF/NBT were found to be 40 and 80 nm, respectively. Interestingly, the electrical and ferroelectric properties such as leakage current, dielectric constant, and remnant polarization of NBT/BNF/NBT sandwiched layer, were superior to those of BNF single film. However, the saturation magnetization of NBT/BNF/NBT sandwiched layer was reduced. Our work suggested the NBT/BNF/NBT sandwiched layer with improved multiferroic characteristics have a promising application for future information storage devices.