Nd and Ti co-doped bismuth ferrite (Bi1-xNdx)(Fe1-yTiy)O3 (x, y=0, 0.05, 0.1, 0.2) ceramics and thin films were synthesized through the conventional mixed-oxide process and pulsed laser deposition (PLD), respectively. Nd and Ti co-doping effect was examined with emphasis on how these impurities affect phase formation behavior as there could be the improvement in leakage current problems often associated with multiferroic BiFeO3 (BFO) thin films. The lattice constants of BFO ceramics decreased with Nd doping concentration up to 10mol%, while they further decreased with Nd and Ti co-doping to about 20%. BFO thin films obtained by the PLD process revealed random polycrystalline structure. Similar to bulk BFO ceramic, Nd and Ti co-doping effectively suppressed the formation of unwanted secondary phase and thus stabilized the perovskite phase in BFO thin films.
