Focus Section: Enhanced ferroelectricity and ferromagnetism in La1-xBixCrO3 by Bi3+ substitution

The ferroelectric and magnetic properties of the perovskite solid solution, (1 - x)LaCrO3-xBiCrO3, have been investigated. While pure LaCrO3 does not show ferroelectric hysteresis even at 77 K, the solid solution of La1-xBixCrO3 with x = 0.,0.,0.3, and 0.35 displays ferroelectric hysteresis, with the remanent polarization increasing with the increase of the Bi3+ content. Using a superconducting quantum interference device, the magnetization was measured versus temperature under field cooling (FC) and zero field cooling (ZFC) conditions. Magnetic hysteresis has been found in La1-xBixCrO3 (0.1 ? x ? 0.3) below the Neel temperature, TN. With the increase of Bi3+ content, TN decreases, while the magnetization below TN is enhanced. While the ferroelectric and magnetic properties could be due to different origins, the Bi substitution results in both ferroelectric and magnetic enhancements in the (1 - x)LaCrO3-xBiCrO3 solid solutions.