Tuning of Optical Properties in RFeO3 Perovskites: Role of Structural Distortion, Doping, and Nanostructuring

The literature review has evidently indicated that rare-earth orthoferrites (RFeO3) are a versatile group of perovskite compounds with diverse tunable structural, electrical, magnetic and optical characteristics. These polyfunctionalities are due to the high interplay between the distortion of the lattice, the electronic structure and magnetic interactions in the perovskite framework. The RFeO3 compounds are very promising in advanced technological applications due to the capability of optimising such properties by compositionally modifying and defect engineering as well as controlling synthesis. LaFeO3 is commonly known as one of the orthoferrites, it is greatly recognized due to its high chemical stability, lower structural distortion and high catalytic and sensing functions. It is semiconducting in nature; it is a good electrical conductor and when doped, it becomes essential in gas sensors, in photocatalysis, energy related devices. Conversely, YFeO3 has greater orthorhombic distortion owing to smaller ionic radius of Y3+ that promotes magnet anisotropy and stability of the dielectric medium. Its spin reorientation transition properties, as well as its robust magnetic properties are of particular interest in spintronic and magneto-optical applications. BiFeO3, on the other hand, is a special type of multiferroic material, and at the same time, it has ferroelectric and antiferromagnetic order at room temperature. Its high spontaneous polarization and magnetoelectric coupling provides opportunities to multifunctional devices like memory elements, sensors and optoelectronic systems. Although these are important advances, the literature also reveals another gap, which is to carry out comparative systematic studies on LaFeO3 with YFeO3 and BiFeO3 synthesized under the same conditions and under the same controlled conditions. A majority of the investigations are conducted separately on a single compound which limits a clear picture of the contribution made by A-site cation variation towards structure-property association. Moreover, there are still limited integrated studies which correlate structural, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties in one framework structure. The direct and comparative analysis of such orthoferrite systems at the same synthesis conditions is thus necessary to have an enhanced insight into the multiradian nature of such systems. It is in this gap that the basis of the motivation of the present research work is derived where the aim of the study is to explore and correlate systematically, the structural, electrical, magnetic and optical nature of the RFeO3 (R= La, Y, Bi) compounds as they can be profiled in multifunctional applications.

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