The BiFe0.95Mn0.05O3 films were fabricated on Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si and Bi2O3/Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si substrates using a sol-gel process. Saturated square P-E hysteresis loops can be observed at frequencies ranging from 1 to 16.7 kHz for both films. The BiFe0.95Mn0.05O3 BiFe(0.95)Mn(0.05)O(3)film on Bi2O3/Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si exhibits a larger 2P(r) (similar to 156 mu C/cm(2)), smaller 2E(c) (similar to 510 kV/cm), more symmetric P-E loops, stronger charge retaining capability (the loss of AP is only 2% after 10(4) s) and fatigue resistance (no loss of Delta P is observed after 1010 switching cycles) compared to the film deposited directly on Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si. More importantly, the former can be uniformly polarized using a piezoelectric-mode atomic force microscopic system and exhibits a larger piezoelectric coefficient (similar to 64 pm/V). These results should be due to the Bi2O3 buffer layer, which can favor the grain growth and hence elimination of defect complexes formed between the negatively charged defects such as (Mn-Fe3+(2+))' or (Fe-Fe3+(2+).)' and oxygen vacancies. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.