Effects of mechanochemical activation on the structural and electrical properties of orthorhombic LuFeO3 ceramics

Abstract Orthorhombic LuFeO 3 is an important member of rare‐earth orthoferrites ReFeO 3 whose appealing physical features have drawn much attention due to its various potential applications. In this work, pure phase LuFeO 3 ceramics have been prepared by a mechanochemical activation‐assisted solid‐state reaction (MAS) method and conventional solid‐state reaction (CSS) method for comparison. X‐ray Diffraction (XRD) studies demonstrated that the mechanochemical activation process can lower the starting reaction temperature and substantially shorten the time to complete the reaction of LuFeO 3 ceramics. Besides, more homogeneous and highly denser LuFeO 3 ceramics can be obtained using the MAS method revealed by the density measurement and Scanning Electron Microscopy. It was revealed by XRD and Raman measurements that there is a little increase in lattice constant in the MAS sample compared to the CSS sample. The complex impedance spectra illustrated that the MAS sample has a much higher resistance than the CSS sample, which is caused by the higher density and fewer oxygen vacancies verified by X‐Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy. We believe that this study will contribute to solving the common leakage problems in ReFeO 3 ceramics and the investigation of its multiferroic properties.