Electric and Magnetic Properties of the Multiferroic Composites Made Based on Pb(Fe1/2Nb1/2)1−xMnxO3 and the Nickel-Zinc Ferrite

This work presents the electrophysical properties of the multiferroic ceramic composites obtained as a result of combining both magnetic and ferroelectric material. The ferroelectric components of the composite are materials with the following chemical formulas: PbFe0.5Nb0.5O3 (PFN), Pb(Fe0.495Nb0.495Mn0.01)O3 (PFNM1), and Pb(Fe0.49Nb0.49Mn0.02)O3 (PFNM2), while the magnetic component of the composite is the nickel-zinc ferrite (Ni0.64Zn0.36Fe2O4 marked as F). The crystal structure, microstructure, DC electric conductivity, and ferroelectric, dielectric, magnetic, and piezoelectric properties of the multiferroic composites are performed. The conducted tests confirm that the composite samples have good dielectric and magnetic properties at room temperature. Multiferroic ceramic composites have a two-phase crystal structure (ferroelectric from a tetragonal system and magnetic from a spinel structure) without a foreign phase. Composites with an admixture of manganese have a better set of functional parameters. The manganese admixture increases the microstructure’s homogeneity, improves the magnetic properties, and reduces the electrical conductivity of composite samples. On the other hand, in the case of electric permittivity, a decrease in the maximum values of εm is observed with an increase in the amount of manganese in the ferroelectric component of composite compositions. However, the dielectric dispersion at high temperatures (associated with high conductivity) disappears.