Magnetic and leakage current properties of Bi1−xGdxFeO3 thin films

Bi
_0.9
Gd
_0.1
FeO
₃
(BGFO) thin films were deposited on Pt(111)/Ti/SiO
₂
/Si(100) substrates using the sol-gel method. The thin films showed ferromagnetic properties with remnant magnetization (Mr) of 1.2 emu/g and saturation magnetization (Ms) of 5.3 emu/g. It was found that more than one conduction mechanism is involved in the electric field range used in these experiments. In the low electric field region, the leakage current was controlled by Poole-Frenkel emission. On the other hand, the mechanism can be explained by Schottky emission from the Pt electrode in the high field region.