Reduced leakage current and improved ferroelectricity in magneto-electric composite ceramics prepared with microwave assisted radiant hybrid sintering

Abstract

Structural, electrical and magnetic properties of magneto-electric composite ceramics viz., 0.9 BaTi0.95Sn0.05O3 (BTSO)- 0.1 Ni0.8Zn0.2Fe2O4 (NZFO) prepared with microwave assisted radiant hybrid sintering (MARH) are reported. Phase purity and isovalent substitution of Ti4+ by Sn4+ of the samples is confirmed from x-ray diffraction and 119Sn Mossbauer measurements respectively. Significant suppression of leakage current and improvement of ferroelectricity is observed for the composites prepared with MARH. The observed results are explained in terms of uniform dispersion of ferrite (NZFO) phase in the ferroelectric (BTSO) matrix as evidenced from back-scattered scanning electron micrographs.