Effect of La addition on structural, magnetic and optical properties of multiferroic YFeO3 nanopowders fabricated by low-temperature solid-state reaction method

Nanosize multiferroic La-doped YFeO
₃
powders are harvested via a low-temperature solid-state reaction method. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Raman spectra analysis reveal that with La addition, YFeO
₃
powders are successfully fabricated at a lower temperature with the size below 60 nm, and a refined structure is obtained. Magnetic hysteresis loop illustrates ferromagnetic behavior of YFeO
₃
nano particles can be enhanced with La addition. The maximum and remnant magnetization of the powders are about 4.03 and 1.22 emu/g, respectively. It is shown that the optical band gap is around 2.25 eV, proving that La doped YFeO
₃
nano particles can strongly absorb visible light. Both magnetic and optical properties are greatly enhanced with La addition, proving its potential application in magnetic and optical field.