Magnetic enhancement of ferroelectric polarization in a particulate multiferroic composite derived in situ via additive assisted sintering of a pseudo ternary alloy system BiFeO3–PbTiO3–DyFeO3

We report here the synthesis of a self-grown 0–3 particulate multiferroic composite by controlled precipitation of the ferrimagnetic garnet phase using additive (MnO2) assisted sintering of a multi-cation ferroelectric system (Bi, Pb, Dy)(Fe, Ti)O3. The particulate multiferroic composite derived in this manner exhibits a favorable microstructure, wherein, although the volume fraction of the garnet phase is kept low (6%), which helps in retaining the electrical insulating character of the specimen, the number fraction of the garnet grains vis-à-vis the ferroelectric grains is ∼1:1. The composite shows a nearly ∼50% increase in saturation polarization at room temperature under a modest magnetic field of 1 T, suggesting a considerable improvement in ferroelectric domain switching due to the efficient strain transfer from the minority garnet grains to the majority piezoelectric grains.