Multiferroic properties of BiNdTiO-NiFeO-BiNdTiO trilayer composite thin films prepared by a sol-gel process.

Lead-free multiferroic BiNdTiO-NiFeO-BiNdTiO trilayer composite thin films were oriented and deposited on LaNiO/Si substrates via sol-gel method. In the heterostructures, the coexistence of ferroelectric polarization ( P = 7 μC/cm), magnetization ( M = 110 emu/cm), high in-plane magnetoelectric voltage coefficient (α = ~43 mV/cm Oe), and distinct converse magnetoelectric effect has been validated at room temperature, which is advantageous for multi-functional devices. The improved magnetic and magnetoelectric properties may be due to the oriented growth, whereas the ferroelectric properties was enhanced because of the improved fatigue endurance properties and reduced leakage current. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]