The BiFe1-xMnxO3 (BFMO) (x = 0.03, 0.05 and 0.07) thin films were deposited on indium tin oxide/glass substrates using a metal organic decomposition method. X-ray diffraction analysis reveals that the structure of BiFeO3 films is distorted somewhat by Mn substitution. The leakage measurements indicate that Mn doping content is a dominant factor affecting the leakage current of BFMO films. Due to the poor crystallinity, a small remanent polarization (P-r) is observed in the BFMOx = 0.05 thin film annealed using the conventional method. The P-r values for the sequential-layer annealed BFMO films are found to be related to the intensity of (012) peak and the content of defect complexes between the oxygen vacancies and acceptors. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.