Electronic Structure of BiFe1−xMnxO3 Thin Films Investigated by X-Ray Absorption Spectroscopy

Abstract EN

Multiferroic polycrystalline BiFe1-xMnxO3 (0≤x≤0.3) thin films have been prepared on the Pt(111)/Ti/SiO2/Si(100) substrates by pulsed laser deposition method.

The influence of Mn substitution on the electronic structure and magnetic properties has been studied.

X-ray diffraction spectroscopy shows that Mn substitution slightly modulates crystal structure of the BiFe1-xMnxO3 system within the same structural phase.

According to Fe L edge X ray absorption spectroscopy, Fe ions are found to be formally trivalent for doping amount x in BiFe1-xMnxO3.

The enhanced magnetization by increasing Mn content is attributed to an alternation degree of hybridization between Fe 3d-O 2p and Mn 3d-O 2p orbitals, basing on the carefully examined Fe L and O K edge X-ray absorption spectroscopy.

The crystal structural and the electronic structural results show a causal relation between them by demonstrating intrinsic mutual dependence between respective variations.