Mn-modified BiFe1-xMnxO3 (x = 0, 0.05, 0.1, and 0.15) ceramics were fabricated by a Sol-gel method together with calcination at an elevated temperature. The crystal structures of samples were analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD). The dependences of the ferroelectric, dielectric, and magnetic properties of samples on Mn contents were thoroughly investigated. The XRD patterns indicated that as increasing Mn content in samples, the unwanted impurity phases such as Bi2Fe4O9 and Bi36Fe24O57 are markedly decreased. Polarization-electric field (P-E) hysteresis loops observed for all the samples indicated that the permanent polarization (Pr) and the coercive field (Ec) were significantly improved due to Mn substitution. With an increase of Mn content, the value of dielectric constant of samples also increased. In addition, symmetric magnetic hysteresis (M-H) loops in samples indicated that they were magnetic ordered materials, and the saturated magnetization (Ms) of the BiFe1-xMnxO3 ceramics increased with an increase of Mn content.

Keywords: Mn-modified BiFe1-xMnxO3 ceramics; Ferroelectric properties; Magnetic properties