MOCVD Growth of Perovskite Multiferroic BiFeO 3 Films: The Effect of Doping at the A and/or B Sites on the Structural, Morphological and Ferroelectric Properties

Bismuth ferrite (BiFeO 3 ) materials have been the subject of intense research activity in the last two decades. The great interest arises from the BiFeO 3 being one of the rare multiferroic compounds in which ferroelectricity and magnetism coexist at room temperature. To improve these properties several studies have been reported on the doping at the A and/or B sites of the BiFeO 3 perovskite structure. In this short review, the attention is focused to the synthesis of BiFeO 3 and BiFeO 3 doped with Ba or Dy at the A site and Ti at the B site through Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD). The applied MOCVD process consists of an in situ one step approach using a multi‐metal source precursor mixture containing the Bi(phenyl) 3 and Fe(tmhd) 3 (phenyl = ‐C 6 H 5 ; H‐tmhd = 2,2,6,6‐tetramethyl‐3,5‐heptandione) as source of Bi and Fe ions. This study evidences the effect of doping on the structural, morphological and piezo/ferroelectric properties of BiFeO 3 and doped systems. In summary, this mini‐review illustrates the possibility to apply a simple MOCVD approach to produce good quality pure and doped BiFeO 3 films.