Effect of holmium (Ho) partial substitution in structure and ferroelectric properties of bismuth ferrites (BFO).

• Influence of doping in ferroelectric properties of multiferroics. • Holmium doped BiFeO 3 give rise to distorted rhombohedral phase. • Variation of dielectric values with temperature and frequency. • AC conductivity and Impedance analysis of doped Bismuth Ferrites. • Enhancement in ferroelectricity of Ho- BiFeO 3 samples with P-E hysteresis loop. Multiferroic holmium doped bismuth ferrite samples, prepared by solid-state route method are analyzed in this study to understand the effect of Ho3+ in the crystal structure, thermal properties, dielectric behavior, ferroelectricity, and AC conductivity of bismuth ferrites. Preliminary structural analysis using XRD and refinement characterize to see the distortion in the rhombohedral type of structure with doping. Effect of holmium on morphology, using FESEM and compositional analysis using EDAX show more uniform and dense distribution of well-developed grains as well as a better phase formation with lesser secondary phase, for 80% holmium doped sample. Dielectric, AC conductivity, and impedance parameters variation with frequency and temperature are studied to investigate the electrical behavior of Ho-BFO. Emphasis on the effect of holmium doping on the ferroelectric nature of the doped BFO is further analyzed in terms of P-E loops. The temperature effect on the dielectric properties exhibits an anomaly corresponding to magneto-electric coupling in the samples; all these results are discussed here in detail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]