Relaxation phenomena in ensembles of CoFe2O4 nanoparticles

Collective magnetic behavior of CoFe₂O₄ nanoparticles with diameters of 76, 16, 15 and 8 nm, respectively, prepared by different chemical methods has been investigated. Particle composition, size and structure have been characterized by inductive coupled plasma (ICP), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD). Basic magnetic properties have been determined from the temperature dependence of magnetization and magnetization isotherms measurements. The three samples exhibit characteristic of a superparamagnetic system with the presence of strong interparticle interactions. Magnetic relaxation phenomena have been examined via frequency-dependent ac susceptibility measurements and aging and memory effect experiments. For the particles coated with oleic acid, it has been demonstrated that the sample reveals all attributes of a super-spin glass (SSG) system with strong interparticle interactions.     

Anomalous magnetic behavior of CuO nanoparticles

We report studies on temperature, field and time dependence of magnetization on cupric oxide nanoparticles of sizes 9 nm, 13 nm and 16 nm. The nanoparticles show unusual features in comparison to other antiferromagnetic nanoparticle systems. The field cooled (FC) and zero field cooled (ZFC) magnetization curves bifurcate well above the Néel temperature and the usual peak in the ZFC magnetization curve is absent. The system does not show any memory effects which is in sharp contrast to the usual behavior shown by other antiferromagnetic nanoparticles. It turns out that the non-equilibrium behavior of CuO nanoparticles is very strange and is neither superparamagnetic nor spin glass like.     

Room temperature ferromagnetism and magnetotransport properties of the layered manganite system La1.2Ba1.8Mn2−xRuxO7 (0≤x≤1.0)

The dc magnetization and ac susceptibility measurements on two dimensional layered manganite La_1.2Ba_1.8Mn₂O₇ samples reveal the occurrence of ferromagnetism above room temperature with ferromagnetic (FM) to paramagnetic (PM) transitions at 338 K. The bifurcation temperatures shown by the zero-field cooled (ZFC) and field cooled (FC) dc magnetization curves at high temperatures shift towards lower temperatures as the applied field is increased from 100 to 2500 Oe. The data are suggestive of a large magnetic anisotropy due to the strong competing ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic interactions resulting in a spin-glass-like state. Ru doping is found to enhance the ferromagnetism and metallicity of the system in a remarkable way. The magnetoresistance (MR) values obtained are very high and about 40% even at 260 K for the undoped sample.     

Study of the quasi two-dimensional CoxNi1-xTa2O6 compounds by X-ray diffraction and magnetic susceptibility measurements

We report results on the structural and magnetic properties of the Co_xNi_1−xTa₂O₆ series of compounds by X-ray powder diffraction, magnetic susceptibility and magnetization measurements. X-ray refinements carried out by the Rietveld method show that these compounds crystallize in a P4₂/mnm tetragonal structure. Magnetic susceptibility curves show a broadened maximum witnessing that these compounds exhibit two-dimensional antiferromagnetic behaviors. All the Co_xNi_1−xTa₂O₆ compounds order below 10 K and present a large ion anisotropy. The magnetic properties have been determined in both the paramagnetic and antiferromagnetic state. In the hypothesis of two dimensional AF ordering, the near neighbor exchange constants (J₁) and the next near neighbor exchange constants for two different paths (J₂ and J'₂) were determined. The composition dependence of the magnetic properties including ordering temperature, exchange constants and anisotropy factors are discussed. The drastic reduction of the ordering temperature for x=0.20 for Co_xNi_1−xTa₂O₆, suggest the hypothesis of a peculiar magnetic behavior for this composition.     

Magnetic Behaviour and Heating Effect of Fe3O4 Ferrofluids Composed of Monodisperse Nanoparticles

Fe3O4 ferrofluids containing monodisperse Fe3O4 nanoparticles with different diameters of 8, 12, 16 and 18nm are prepared by using high-temperature solution phase reaction. The particles have single crystal structures with narrow size distributions. At room temperature, the 8-nm ferrofluid shows superparamagnetic behaviour, whereas the others display hysteresis properties and the coercivity increases with the increasing particle size. The spin glass-like behaviour and cusps near 190K are observed on all ferrofluids according to the temperature variation of field-cooled （FC） and zero-field-cooled （ZFC） magnetization measurements. The cusps are found to be associated with the freezing point of the solvent. As a comparison, the ferrofluids are dried and the FC and ZFC magnetization curves of powdery samples are also investigated. It is found that the blocking temperatures for the powdery samples are higher than those for their corresponding ferrofluids. Moreover, the size dependent heating effect of the ferrofluids is also investigated in ac magnetic field with a frequency of 55 kHz and amplitude of 200 Oe.     

Effect of sintering temperature and the particle size on the structural and magnetic properties of nanocrystalline Li0.5Fe2.5O4

Sintering temperature and particle size dependent structural and magnetic properties of lithium ferrite (Li_0.5Fe_2.5O₄) were synthesized and sintered at four different temperatures ranging from 875 to 1475 K in the step of 200 K. The sample sintered at 875 K was also treated for four different sintering times ranging from 4 to 16 h. Samples sintered at 1475 K have the cubic spinel structure with a small amount of α-Fe₂O₃ (hematite) and γ-Fe₂O₃ (maghemite). The samples sintered at≤1275 K do not show hematite and maghemite phases and the crystals form the single phase spinel structure with the cation ordering on octahedral sites. Particle size of lithium ferrite is in the range of 13-45 nm, and is depend on the sintering temperature and sintering time. The saturation magnetization increased from 45 to 76 emu/g and coercivity decreases from 151 to 139 Oe with an increase in particle size. Magnetization temperature curve recorded in ZFC and FC modes in an external magnetic field of 100 Oe. Typical blocking effects are observed below about 244 K. The dielectric constant increases with an increase in sintering temperature and particle size.     

Neutron powder diffraction and magnetic studies of mesoporous Co3O4

Samples of mesoporous Co₃O₄, created by using mesoporous silicas KIT-6 and SBA-16 as hard templates to control the growth of Co₃O₄ have been investigated with SQUID magnetometry and neutron powder diffraction, to reveal the effects of high surface area on the magnetic and electronic properties. DC magnetic susceptibility measurements show lower Néel ordering temperatures and lower magnetic moments than in a “bulk” reference. A lower second transition temperature is also observed in the mesoporous samples, associated with the freezing of the surface (shell) magnetic moments. Measurements taken with increasing applied field at constant temperature show the materials to be antiferromagnetic as expected. Complementary parametric neutron powder diffraction studies show similar trends between the two mesoporous samples when looking at their Néel temperatures, and verify long range order within the samples.     

Phase coexistence in NaZn13-type LaFe11.4Al1.6C0.02 compound

In NaZn₁₃-type LaFe_11.4Al_1.6C_0.02 compound, a signature of weak ferromagnetism is observed at ∼100 K under a low field by ac magnetic-susceptibility and electrical-resistivity measurements, implying the coexistence of ferromagnetic (FM) and antiferromagnetic (AFM) phases. The hysteresis in isofield magnetization curves and large magnetic relaxation demonstrate the metastability of the magnetic state in the AFM-FM transition region. The variations of magnetization with temperature, time and field show distinct step-like behaviors, which is probably attributed to the discontinuous growth of ferromagnetic cluster in antiferromagnetic matrix.     

Strongly interacting superspins in Fe3O4 nanoparticles

In this paper we report structural and magnetic properties of Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles synthesized by thermal decomposition of ball milled iron nitrate and citric acid in N₂ and air ambient. The XRD pattern of samples which are prepared in air shows some impurity phases, while the samples synthesized in the N₂ atmosphere are almost pure Fe₃O₄ phase. The result shows that by increasing the particle size, the magnetization of the samples increases. The increase of magnetization by increasing the particle size could be attributed to the lower surface spin canting and surface spin disorder of the larger magnetic nanoparticles. The results of ac magnetic susceptibility measurements show that the susceptibility data are not in accordance with the Néel -Brown model for superparamagnetic relaxation, but fit well with conventional critical slowing down model which indicates that the dipole-dipole interactions are strong enough to cause superspin-glass like phase in these samples.     

Antiferromagnetic versus spin-glass like behavior in MnIn2S4

The low-temperature magnetic properties of MnIn₂S₄ have been studied using AC magnetic susceptibility and magnetization experiments. High-temperature susceptibility fits indicate the presence of antiferromagnetic interactions. Low-field magnetization data show a peak at 5.6±0.1 K, below which strong irreversibility is observed between zero-field-cooled (ZFC) and field-cooled (FC) cycles suggesting that the observed peak corresponds to a spin-glass-like transition instead of the antiferromagnetic one previously reported. Further evidence of this magnetic state comes from AC susceptibility data at different frequencies. The in-phase component χ′(T) exhibits the behavior expected of spin glasses, i.e. a shift of the cusp to higher temperatures for higher frequencies.     

Magnetic properties and magnetocaloric effects in Tb6Co1.67Si3 compound

Magnetic properties and magnetocaloric effects of Tb₆Co_1.67Si₃ have been investigated by magnetization measurement. This compound is of a hexagonal Ce$_{6}$Ni$_{2}$Si$_{3}$-type structure with a saturation magnetization of 187\,emu/g at 5\,K and a reversible second-order magnetic transition at Curie temperature $T_{\rm C} = 186$\,K. A magnetic entropy change $\Delta S = 7$\,J\,$\cdot$\,kg$^{-1}$\,$\cdot$\,K$^{-1}$ is observed for a magnetic field change from 0 to 5\,T. A large value of refrigerant capacity (RC) is found to be 330\,J/kg for fields ranging from 0 to 5\,T. The large RC, the reversible magnetization around $T_{\rm C}$ and the easy fabrication make the Tb₆Co_1.67Si₃ compound a suitable candidate for magnetic refrigerants in a corresponding temperature range.     

Large vertical loop shifts in mechanically synthesized (Mn,Fe)2O3−t nanograins

Magnetic properties of zero field cooled (ZFC) and field cooled (FC) sample of (Mn,Fe)₂O_3−t nanograins have been investigated by magnetometry (up to 70 kOe) and Mössbauer spectroscopy (up to 60 kOe) in the temperature interval 4.2–300 K. Large horizontal (up to 0.8 kOe) and vertical (up to 80%) shifts of the magnetization hysteresis loops are observed in the FC regime. The obtained results are discussed in terms of exchange interaction between an antiferromagnetic core and a spin-glass-like state of the nanograins boundaries. It is shown that hysteresis loop shifts (horizontal and vertical) depend on the field cooling magnitude, an effect that can be understood by the change of the boundary magnetic structure induced by the external magnetic field. The vertical magnetization shift is described by a phenomenological model, which takes into account the magnetic interaction between the spin-glass like boundary spins and the applied field.     

Synthesis and magnetic properties of antiferromagnetic Co3O4 nanoparticles

Antiferromagnetic Co₃O₄ nanoparticles with diameter around 30 nm have been synthesized by a solution-based method. The phase identification by the wide-angle X-ray powder diffraction indicates that the Co₃O₄ nanoparticle has a cubic spinel structure with a lattice constant of 0.80843(2) nm. The image of field emission scanning electron microscope shows that the nanoparticles are assembled together to form nanorods. The magnetic properties of Co₃O₄ fine particles have been measured by a superconducting quantum interference device magnetometer. A deviation of the Néel temperature from the bulk is observed, which can be well described by the theory of finite-size scaling. An enhanced coercivity as well as a loop shift are observed in the field-cooled hysteresis loop. The exchange bias field decreases with increasing temperature and diminishes at the Néel temperature. The training effect and the opening of the loop reveal the existence of the spin-glass-like surface spins.     

The magnetic properties of diluted CoFe2O4 nanomaterials

The magnetic properties of （Cox Fe1-x）A （Zn1-x Fe1＋x）B O4 are studied using mean-field theory and the probability distribution law to obtain the saturation magnetization, the coercive field, the critical temperature, and the exchange interactions with different values of D （nm） and x. High-temperature series expansions （HTSEs） combined with the Pade approximant are used to calculate the critical temperature of （CoxFe1-x）A（Znl-xFe1＋x）BO4, and the critical exponent associated with magnetic susceptibility is obtained.     

Correlation of thickness and magnetization in LCMO film

High quality thin films of La_0.67Ca_0.33MnO₃ (LCMO) of different thickness were grown on LAO substrates by pulsed laser deposition (KrF, λ = 278 nm). The AFM images suggest a twodimensional step-growth. DC magnetization measurements of the films in a field of 500 Oe show that the magnetic ordering temperature is the same for all the films in both FC and ZFC conditions and is the same as that for the bulk. However, a difference is seen between the FC and ZFC magnetization of the films. There seems to be a systematic in this difference with respect to the thickness of the film, with the difference decreasing with thickness. We suggest that the difference in the magnetization under FC and ZFC conditions may be due to strain-induced anisotropy arising from the lattice mismatch between the substrate and the film or due to the shape anisotropy due to epitaxial growth Article presented at the International Symposium on Advances in Superconductivity and Magnetism: Materials, Mechanisms and Devices, ASMM2D-2001, 25–28 September 2001, Mangalore, India.     

Nanocrystallite interface effect and exchange bias phenomenology in Cr2O3 and NiO nanoparticles

Nanocrystalline Cr₂O₃ and NiO are prepared using high-energy ball milling. Average sizes of the particles obtained from Scanning Electron Microscopy and crystallite sizes obtained from X-ray diffraction are larger for Cr₂O₃ than NiO particles. At low temperature, large high-field magnetization and small coercivity lead to a weak exchange bias for Cr₂O₃, whereas small high-field magnetization and large coercivity lead to a considerable exchange bias for NiO. The training effect is observed for NiO at 4 K which could be described with a recursive formula constructed in the framework of the spin configurational relaxation model. The results suggest that the pinning mechanism at the interface between the antiferromagnetic and the weak ferromagnetic component ascribed to uncompensated spins leads to the exchange bias effect.     

ENHANCEMENT OF FERROMAGNETIC CLUSTER INDUCED BY MAGNETIC FIELD IN THE PHASE-SEPARATED La0.5Ca0.5MnO3

Magnetic and transport properties of La_0.5Ca_0.5MnO₃ have been investigated by measuring the magnetization and resistance in zero-field-cooled (ZFC) and field-cooled (FC) modes. Conspicuously irreversible behaviors of magnetization/resistance in the two different modes were observed below the charge ordering transition temperature (T_CO). The ZFC and FC magnetizations at 5K, as functions of the magnetic field, coincide for μ₀H≤1T. Afterwards, the ZFC magnetization tends to an approximate constant, but the FC one increases linearly with increasing field. There exists an excellent correspondence between magnetization and resistance below T_CO. All the results suggest that the ferromagnetic clusters embed in the charge-ordered matrix. The phenomenon of ferromagnetic clusters growing up easily in the FC procedure has been interpreted according to the model of thermally activated two-level system.     

Photocontrol of magnetization in Al-substituted Fe3O4 thin films

Thin films of (111)-oriented spinel ferrite Al_0.5Fe_2.5O₄ have been prepared by a pulsed-laser deposition (PLD) technique on α-Al₂O₃ (0001) substrates. The films exhibit cluster-glass behaviors with a spin-freezing temperature, T_g, near or above room temperature. The magnetization was found to increase following light irradiation below T_g, which indicates the photoinduced melting of cluster-glass states. An analysis comparing the dynamic behavior of magnetic response to light irradiation between zero-field-cooled (ZFC) states and field-cooled (FC) states at 10 K under various light intensities, I, revealed that the direct photoexcitation of spins occurs when I≤0.78 mW/mm², while the thermal heating effect following the light absorption of the samples also contributes to the enhancement of magnetization when I≥1.22 mW/mm². The magnetization of the films could be controlled by light irradiation even at room temperature. This suggests the possibility of utilizing these films in the development of novel magneto-optical memory devices.     

Synthesis and magnetic properties of single-crystalline BaFe12O19 nanoparticles

Rod-like and platelet-like nanoparticles of simple-crystalline barium hexaferrite (BaFe₁₂O₁₉) have been synthesized by the molten salt method. Both particle size and morphology change with the reaction temperature and time. The easy magnetization direction (0 0 l) of the BaFe₁₂O₁₉ nanoparticles has been observed directly by performing X-ray diffraction on powders aligned at 0.5 T magnetic field. The magnetic properties of the BaFe₁₂O₁₉ magnet were investigated with various sintering temperatures. The maximum values of saturation magnetization (σ_s=65.8 emu/g), remanent magnetization (σ_r=56 emu/g) and coercivity field (H_ic=5251 Oe) of the aligned samples occurred at the sintering temperatures of 1100 °C. These results indicate that BaFe₁₂O₁₉ nanoparticles synthesized by the molten salt method should enable detailed investigation of the size-dependent evolution of magnetism, microwave absorption, and realization of a nanodevice of magnetic media.     

Si掺杂的铁磁形状记忆合金Co50Ni21Ga29Six的物性研究

成功生长了Co₅₀Ni₂₁Ga₂₉:Si(x=1,2)单晶样品,对其磁性,马氏体相变及其相关性质进行了细致的测量.发现掺Si成分的单晶具有非常迅速的马氏体相变行为、2.5％的大相变应变、大于100 ppm的磁感生应变和4.5％的相变电阻.进一步研究指出,在CoNiGa合金中掺入适量Si元素,能够降低材料的马氏体相变温度,减小相变热滞后,提高材料的居里温度,并使得磁性原子的磁矩有所降低.尤其重要的是Si元素的添加能够增大材料马氏体的磁晶各向异性能,改善马氏体变体的迁移特性,从而获得更大的磁感生应变. 关键词： 铁磁形状记忆合金 Heusler合金 50Ni₂₁Ga₂₉Si_x')" href="#">Co₅₀Ni₂₁Ga₂₉Si_x