Effect of zinc concentration on the structural,electrical and magnetic properties of mixed Mn–Zn and Ni–Zn ferrites synthesized by the citrate precursor technique

Mixed manganese-zinc and nickel-zinc ferrites of composition Mn_0.2Ni_0.8−xZn_xFe₂O₄ where x=0.4$x=0.4$, 0.5 and 0.6 have been synthesized by the citrate precursor technique. Decomposition of the precursor at temperatures as low as 500 °C gives the ferrite powder. The ferrites have been investigated for their electrical and magnetic properties such as saturation magnetization, initial permeability, Curie temperature, AC-resistivity and dielectric constant as a function of sintering temperature and zinc content. Structural properties such as lattice parameter, grain size and density are also studied. The mixed compositions exhibited higher saturation magnetizations at sintering temperatures as low as 1200 °C. While the Curie temperature decreased with zinc content, the permeability was found to increase. The AC-resistivity ranged from 10⁵–10⁷ Ω cm and decreased with zinc content and sintering temperature. The dielectric constants were lower than those normally reported for the Mn–Zn ferrites. Samples sintered at 1400 °C densified to about 94% of the theoretical density and the grain size was of the order of about 1.5 μm for the samples sintered at 1200 °C and increased subsequently with sintering temperature.     

Structural and magnetic properties of Li-Cu mixed spinel ferrites

Li_0.5−x/2Cu_xFe_2.5−x/2O₄ (where x=0.0-1.0) ferrites have been prepared by solid-state reaction. X-ray diffraction was used to study the structure of the above investigated ferrites at various sintering temperatures. Samples were sintered at 1000, 1100 and 1200 °C for 3 h in the atmosphere. For the sintering temperature of 1000 °C, Li_0.5−x/2Cu_xFe_2.5−x/2O₄ undergoes cubic to tetragonal transformation for higher Cu content. However, for the sintering temperature of 1100 and 1200 °C, X-ray diffraction patterns are mainly characterized by fcc structure, though presence of tetragonal distortion was found by other temperature dependence of initial permeability curves. The lattice parameter, X-ray density and bulk density were calculated for different compositions. Curie temperature was measured from the temperature dependence of initial permeability curves. Curie temperatures of Li-Cu mixed ferrites were found to decrease with the increase in Cu²⁺ content due to the reduction of A-B interaction. As mentioned earlier, temperature dependence of initial permeability curves was characterized by tetragonal deformation for the samples containing higher at% of Cu. The complex initial permeability has been studied for different samples. The B-H loops were measured at constant frequency, f=1200 Hz, at room temperature (298 K). Coercivity and hysteresis loss were estimated for different Cu contents.     

The role of Mg substitution on the microstructure and magnetic properties of Ba Co Zn W-type hexagonal ferrites

A series of W-type hexagonal ferrites with the composition BaCoZn_1−xMg_xFe₁₆O₂₇ (0?x?0.6) were prepared by the conventional ceramic method to study their structural and magnetic properties as a function of temperature and composition. The characterization using X-ray diffraction indicated that a hexagonal W-type single-phase structure and the effect of composition on the unit cell parameters, density and porosity was studied. The variation of the magnetic susceptibility (χ_M) with temperature for all the investigated samples in the temperature range (300–800 K) shows three regions of behavior that was explained on the basis of the distribution of Zn²⁺ and Mg²⁺ ions in the lattice and leads to the anomalous behavior of the effective magnetic moment μ_eff. The Curie temperature indicated that the critical concentration is at x=0.5. Paramagnetic nature of the samples above the Curie temperature is observed. The Curie Weiss constant θ calculated from the plot of 1/χ_M vs. T (K) is in agreement with the expected value. The effective magnetic moment μ_eff decreases with increasing the intensity of magnetic field. The possible mechanisms contributing to these properties are discussed in the text.     

Improvement in electrical and magnetic properties of mixed Mg-Al-Mn ferrite system synthesized by citrate precursor technique

In the present work, mixed magnesium-manganese ferrites of composition Mg_0.9Mn_0.1Al_0.3Co_zFe_1.7−zO₄ where z=0.3, 0.5 and 0.7 have been synthesized by the citrate precursor technique. X-ray diffraction patterns of the samples confirmed the formation of single-phase spinel structure. The ferrites have been investigated for their electric and magnetic properties such as dc resistivity, Curie temperature, saturation magnetization, initial permeability and relative loss factor (RLF). Fairly constant value of initial permeability over a wide frequency range (0.1-20 MHz) and low values of the relative loss factor of the order of 10⁻⁴-10⁻⁵, in the frequency range 0.1-30 MHz, are the cardinal achievements of the present investigation. In addition to this, initial permeability was found to increase with an increase in temperature while RLF was observed to be low at these temperatures. The dc resistivity and Curie temperature were found to increase with an increase in cobalt content. The mechanisms contributing to these results are discussed in detail in this paper.     

Ferromagnetism in amorphous Ge1−xMnx grown by low temperature vapor deposition

Magnetic properties of amorphous Ge_1−xMn_x thin films were investigated. The thin films were grown at 373 K on (100) Si wafers by using a thermal evaporator. Growth rate was ∼35 nm/min and average film thickness was around 500 nm. The electrical resistivities of Ge_1−xMn_x thin films are 5.0×10⁻⁴∼100 Ω cm at room temperature and decrease with increasing Mn concentration. Low temperature magnetization characteristics and magnetic hysteresis loops measured at various temperatures show that the amorphous Ge_1−xMn_x thin films are ferromagnetic but the ferromagnetic magnetizations are changing gradually into paramagnetic as increasing temperature. Curie temperature and saturation magnetization vary with Mn concentration. Curie temperature of the deposited films is 80-160 K, and saturation magnetization is 35-100 emu/cc at 5 K. Hall effect measurement at room temperature shows the amorphous Ge_1−xMn_x thin films have p-type carrier and hole densities are in the range from 7×10¹⁷ to 2×10²² cm⁻³.     

Effect of Mn-site vacancies on the magnetic entropy change and the Curie temperature of La0.67Ca0.33Mn1−xO3 perovskite

Single-phase polycrystalline samples of La_0.67Ca_0.33Mn_1−xO₃ (x=0.00, 0.02, 0.04, 0.06) have been prepared using the sol-gel method. The structure, magnetocaloric properties and the Curie temperature of the samples with different Mn vacancy concentrations have been investigated. The experimental results show that vacancy doping at the Mn-sites has a significant influence on the magnetic properties of La_0.67Ca_0.33Mn_1−xO₃. The Curie temperature decreases monotonically with increasing the Mn-site vacancy concentration x. A remarkable enhancement of the magnetic entropy change has been obtained in the La_0.67Ca_0.33Mn_0.98O₃ sample. The entropy change reaches |ΔS_M|=3.10 J kg⁻¹ K⁻¹ at its Curie temperature (264 K) under an applied magnetic field H=10 kOe, which is almost the same value as that of pure Gd.     

Structural and magnetic properties of MnxCo1−xFe2O4 ferrite nanoparticles

We report on the structural and magnetic properties of nanoparticles of Mn_xCo_1−xFe₂O₄ (x=0.1, 0.5) ferrites produced by the glycothermal reaction. From the analysis of XRD spectra and TEM micrographs, particle sizes of the samples have been found to be about 8 nm (for x=0.1) and 13 nm (for x=0.5). The samples were characterized by DC magnetization in the temperature range 5-380 K and in magnetic fields of up to 40 kOe using a SQUID magnetometer. Mössbauer spectroscopy results show that the sample with higher Mn content has enhanced hyperfine fields after thermal annealing at 700 °C. There is a corresponding small reduction in hyperfine fields for the sample with lower Mn content. The variations of saturation magnetization, remnant magnetization and coercive fields as functions of temperature are also presented. Our results show evidence of superparamagnetic behaviour associated with the nanosized particles. Particle sizes appear to be critical in explaining the observed properties.     

Magnetic, dielectric and complex impedance spectroscopic studies of nanocrystalline Cr substituted Li-ferrite

Nanocrystalline Li_0.5Fe_2.5−xCr_xO₄ (2.5≤x≥0) ferrites were prepared by a sol-gel autocombustion route. X-ray diffraction was employed to confirm the cubic spinel phase formation of the ferrites. The lattice parameter decreases with increase in Cr content. The saturation magnetization, coercivity and remanance were studied as a function of Cr content. The dielectric constant and dielectric loss were measured as a function of frequency in the frequency range 20 Hz-1 MHz. Frequency dependence of dielectric constant shows dielectric dispersion due to the Maxwell-Wagner type of interfacial polarization. In order to understand the conduction mechanism, complex impedance measurements were carried out. The substitution of chromium plays an important role in changing the dielectric and magnetic properties of lithium ferrites.     

Effect of Co or Mn addition on the soft magnetic properties of amorphous Fe89−xZr11Bx (x=5, 10) alloy ribbons

The temperature and field dependent magnetic properties of melt-spun amorphous Fe_89−x−yZr₁₁B_x(Co,Mn)_y (x=5, 10 and 0≤y≤10) alloys in the temperature range 5-1200 K are reported. The Curie temperature and saturation magnetization at room temperature increase (decrease) almost linearly with Co (Mn) addition. With increasing Co concentration, the room temperature coercivity increases at the rate of 2.26 (0.28) A/m per at% for the x=5 (10) samples. The high-field magnetic susceptibility and local magnetic anisotropy decrease (increases) rapidly with increasing Co (Mn) concentration. The thermomagnetic curves show a marked increase in magnetization above 850 K corresponding to the crystallization of α-FeCo (α-Fe) phase in samples containing Co (Mn). The Curie temperature of the crystalline phase increases (remains same) with increasing Co (Mn) concentration with the formation of α-FeCo (α-Fe). Addition of Co up to 10 at% in Fe-Zr-B improves the room temperature saturation magnetization from 0.56 to 1.2 T, and Curie temperature from 315 to 476 K. Also, the coercivity increases with Co addition from 1.27 to 23.88 A/m for x=5 and from 7.64 to 10.35 A/m for x=10 alloy. The non-collinear spin structures that characterize Fe rich Fe-Zr-B amorphous alloys have been used to describe the observed results.     

Preparation and magnetic properties of La-substituted Zn–Cu–Cr ferrites via a rheological phase reaction method

Nanocrystalline La-substituted Zn–Cu–Cr ferrites Zn_0.6Cu_0.4Cr_0.5La_xFe_1.5−xO₄ (x=0.00, 0.02, 0.04, 0.06) were prepared by a rheological phase reaction method. The obtained powders were characterized by X-ray diffractometer, transmission electron microscopy and vibrating sample magnetometer. Permeability of the samples was investigated using an impedance analyzer. The results indicated that ferrite samples had the single spinel phase at low La content. Lattice parameter increased with increasing La content, while particle size calculated from Scherrer's formula decreased with increasing La content in La-substituted ferrite samples. The magnetic properties of La-substituted ferrites were strongly affected by La content. The saturation magnetization decreased, while coercivity increased with increasing La content. The variation of real permeability with La content was investigated in the frequency range of 1 MHz–1 GHz.     

Effect of Pr doping on magnetic and dielectric properties of Ni-Zn ferrites by “one-step synthesis”

Pr³⁺-doped Ni-Zn ferrites with a nominal composition of Ni_0.5Zn_0.5Pr_xFe_2−xO₄ (where x=0-0.08) were prepared by a one-step synthesis. The magnetic and dielectric properties of the as-prepared Ni-Zn ferrites were investigated. X-ray diffraction data indicated that, after doping, all samples consisted of the main spinel phase in combination of a small amount of a foreign PrFeO₃ phase. The lattice constants of the ferrites initially increased after Pr³⁺ doping, but then became smaller with additional Pr³⁺ doping. The addition of Pr³⁺ resulted in a reduction of grain size and an increase of density and densification of the as-prepared samples. Magnetic measurement revealed that the saturation magnetization of the as-prepared ferrites, M_s, decreased, while the coercivity, H_c, increased with increasing substitution level, x, and the Curie temperature, T_c, kept a rather high value, fluctuating between 308 and 320 °C. Both the real and imaginary parts of permeability of the ferrites decreased slightly after Pr³⁺ doping. However, the natural resonance frequency shifted towards higher frequency from 13.07 to 36.17 MHz after the addition of Pr³⁺, driving the magnetic permeability to much higher frequency, reaching the highest value (36.17 MHz) when x=0.04. Introduction of Pr³⁺ ions into the Ni-Zn ferrite reduced the values of the dielectric loss tangent, especially in the frequency range of 1-400 MHz. However, the magnitude of dielectric loss of the samples doped with different amounts of Pr³⁺ raised little.     

Effects of In-substitution on the structure and magnetic properties of multi-doped YIG ferrites with low saturation magnetizations

Multi-doped YIG ferrites {Y_1.7Gd_0.5Ca_0.8}[Fe_2−xIn_x](Fe_2.15V_0.4Mn_0.05Al_0.4)O₁₂ (x=0, 0.3, 0.6, 0.7, 0.8 and 0.9) with low saturation magnetizations (4πM_s=400-600 G at 298 K) were prepared by a conventional ceramic technology and the effects of In³⁺-substitution on their structures and magnetic properties were systematically investigated using XRD, SEM and VSM. It has been found that as-synthesized powders and sintered ferrites showed a single-phase of garnet structure with a cell parameter (a) that increased linearly with increase in In³⁺ concentration from x=0 up to 0.9. Apparent relative densities of sintered samples were all over 98%, but no remarkable influences of In³⁺-substitution were observed by SEM on the refinement of crystal grains and the enhancement of sintering of ferrites. In addition, the Curie temperature T_c decreased almost linearly as In³⁺concentration increased, while the corresponding saturation magnetization at room temperature presented a variation characterized by a gradual increase first and then a rapid plunge. On the basis of quantitative analysis of XRD data and the theory on super-exchange interactions, it has been established that the incorporated In³⁺ ions via doping were exclusively located at the sites with octahedral coordinations in the crystal structure and the aforementioned magnetic properties can be simply attributed to weakening super-exchange interactions between neighboring magnetic ions through oxygen ions due to the “dilution effect” of added non-magnetic In³⁺ ions.     

Effect of magnesium substitution on dielectric and magnetic properties of Ni-Zn ferrite

The dielectric and magnetic properties of Mg incorporated Ni-Zn spinel ferrites have been investigated. Ni_0.5−xZn_0.5Mg_xFe₂O₄ ferrites have been prepared by sol-gel auto-combustion technique. The as prepared ferrites were annealed at 673, 873 and 1073 K. The X-ray diffraction studies reveal the spinel structure of annealed ferrites. The TEM results are in agreement with XRD results. FTIR study has also been carried out to get insight into the structure of these ferrites. The dielectric measurements show that the dielectric constant (ε′), dielectric loss (tan δ) and conductivity (σ_ac) increase on incorporation of Mg in the Ni-Zn ferrite. ε′, tan δ and σ_ac also show dependence on temperature, frequency of external applied electric field and microstructure of the samples. The magnetic moment measurements reveal that the saturation magnetization (M_s) increases and coercivity (H_c) decreases with the increase in concentration of Mg²⁺ ions. M_s and H_c also show dependence on the annealing temperature.     

Magnetic properties of bio-synthesized zinc ferrite nanoparticles

The magnetic properties of zinc ferrite (Zn-substituted magnetite, Zn_yFe_1-yFe₂O₄) formed by a microbial process compared favorably with chemically synthesized materials. A metal reducing bacterium, Thermoanaerobacter, strain TOR-39 was incubated with Zn_xFe_1−xOOH (x=0.01, 0.1, and 0.15) precursors and produced nanoparticulate zinc ferrites. Composition and crystalline structure of the resulting zinc ferrites were verified using X-ray fluorescence, X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, and neutron diffraction. The average composition from triplicates gave a value for y of 0.02, 0.23, and 0.30 with the greatest standard deviation of 0.02. Average crystallite sizes were determined to be 67, 49, and 25 nm, respectively. While crystallite size decreased with more Zn substitution, the lattice parameter and the unit cell volume showed a gradual increase in agreement with previous literature values. The magnetic properties were characterized using a superconducting quantum interference device magnetometer and were compared with values for the saturation magnetization (M_s) reported in the literature. The averaged M_s values for the triplicates with the largest amount of zinc (y=0.30) gave values of 100.1, 96.5, and 69.7 emu/g at temperatures of 5, 80, and 300 K, respectively indicating increased magnetic properties of the bacterially synthesized zinc ferrites.     

Nanostructural,magnetic and Mössbauer studies of nanosized Co1−xZnxFe2O4 synthesized by co-precipitation

This work presents a systematic investigation on the structural and magnetic properties of Co_1−xZn_xFe₂O₄ (0.5<x<0.75) nanoparticles synthesized by the chemical co-precipitation method. The X-ray diffraction analysis, the Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) and the Vibrating Sample Magnetometer were carried out at room temperature to study the micro-structural and magnetic properties. The X-ray measurements revealed the production of a broad single cubic phase with the crystallite size within the range of 6–10 nm. The FTIR measurements between 400 and 4000 cm⁻¹ confirmed the intrinsic cation vibrations of the spinel structure. The magnetic measurements show that the saturation magnetization and coercivity decrease by increasing the zinc content. Furthermore, the results reveal that the sample with a chemical composition of Co_0.3Zn_0.7Fe₂O₄ exhibits the super-paramagnetic behavior and the Curie point of 97 °C.     

Magnetic interactions in Cu-substituted manganese ferrites

A series of Mn_1−xCu_xFe₂O₄, with x=0, 0.25, 0.50, 0.75 and 1.0, spinel ferrites were prepared by standard ceramic method, to study the effect of compositional variation on magnetic susceptibility, saturation magnetization (M_s), Curie temperature (T_c) and magnetic moments (μ_B). The Curie temperatures have been evaluated by measuring the ac susceptibility using the mutual inductance technique. On increasing Cu contents from 0.0 to 0.50, the saturation magnetization increases while the Curie temperature decreases. On further increase in Cu contents, x>0.50 a decreasing trend in M_s is exhibited while T_c continues to decrease. This effect can be partially related to the low magnetic moments of Cu⁺² ions. The dominant interaction in all ferrite samples is A-B interaction which is due to the negative values of the characteristic temperature θ(K) showing that the magnetic ordering is antiferromagnetic. The Y-K angle increases gradually with increasing copper contents and extrapolates to 90° for CuFe₂O₄. From the computation of Y-K angles for Mn_1−xCu_xFe₂O₄, it can be concluded that the mixed copper ferrites exhibit a non-collinearity of the Y-K type while MnFe₂O₄ shows a Neel type of ordering.     

Reentrant spin glass behavior and large initial permeability of Co0.5−xMnxZn0.5Fe2O4

A series of polycrystalline ferrites having nominal chemical composition Co_0.50−xMn_xZn_0.5Fe₂O₄ (0<x<0.4) have been synthesized by the solid-state reaction technique. The XRD analysis confirms single phase cubic spinel structure for all compositions. Lattice constant increases from 0.84195 to 0.84429 nm with the increasing Mn content and obeys Vegard's law. The average grain size increases by increasing both Mn content and sintering temperatures. Room temperature saturation magnetization increases for x=0.1 and decreases for increasing Mn content. The coercivity decreases with increasing Mn content due to the decrease of anisotropy constant. A reentrant spin glass behavior of these samples is observed from the zero field cooled magnetization measurements. The real part of the initial permeability increases by increasing both Mn content and sintering temperatures. This is due to the homogeneous grain growth and densification of the ferrites. The highest initial permeability 137 is observed for x=0.4 sintered at 1573 K on the other hand, the highest relative quality factor (2522) is obtained for the sample Co_0.2Mn_0.3Zn_0.5Fe₂O₄ sintered at 1523 K. The Mn substituted Co_0.50−xMn_xZn_0.5Fe₂O₄ ferrites showed improved magnetic properties.     

Structural and magnetic properties of holmium substituted cobalt ferrites synthesized by chemical co-precipitation method

CoHo_xFe_2−xO₄ ferrites (x=0.00–0.1) were prepared by the co-precipitation technique and the effect of holmium substitution on the magnetic properties was investigated. X-ray diffraction reveals that the substituted samples show a second phase of HoFeO₃ along with the spinel phase. The magnetic properties such as the saturation magnetization (M_s), coercivity (H_c) and remanence (M_r) are obtained from the hysteresis loops. It is observed that the M_s decreases while H_c increases with Ho³⁺ substitution. The decrease of saturation magnetization is attributed to the weakening of exchange interactions. The coercivity increases with increase of the Ho³⁺ concentration, which is attributed to the presence of an ultra-thin layer at the grain boundaries that impedes the domain wall motion. Low field AC susceptibility was also measured over the temperature range 300–600 K at the frequency of 200 Hz. It decreases with the increase of temperature following the Curie–Weiss law up to the Curie temperature. Above the Curie temperature it shows paramagnetic behavior. The increase in coercivity suggests that the material can be used for applications in perpendicular recording media.     

Dielectric loss,conductivity relaxation process and magnetic properties of Mg substituted Ni–Cu ferrites

The dielectric properties, dc and ac electrical resistivities of Mg substituted Ni–Cu ferrites with general formula Ni_0.5Cu_0.5−xMg_xFe₂O₄ (0.0≤x≤0.5) have been investigated as a function of frequency, temperature and composition. ac resistivity of all the samples decreases with increase in the frequency exhibiting normal ferrimagnetic behavior. The frequency dependence of dielectric loss tangent showed a maximum in between 10 Hz and 1 kHz in all the ferrites. The conductivity relaxation of the charge carriers was examined using the electrical modulus formulism, and the results indicate the presence of the non-Debye type of relaxation in the prepared ferrites. Similar values of activation energies for dc conduction and for conductivity relaxation reveal that the mechanism of electrical conduction and dielectric polarization is the same in these ferrites. A single ‘master curve’ for normalized plots of all the modulus isotherms observed for a given composition indicates that the distribution of relaxation time is temperature independent. The saturation magnetization and coercivity as calculated from the hysteresis loop measurement show striking dependence on composition.     

Magnetic properties of La-substituted NiFe2O4 via egg-white precursor route

Nano-sized NiFe_2−xLa_xO₄ ferrites (x=0.00, 0.01, 0.02, 0.03, 0.04, 0.5, 0.07 and 0.09) were synthesized for the first time by using metal nitrate and egg-white extract in aqueous medium. The ferrites were characterized by DTA-TG, XRD, TEM, FT-IR and VSM techniques. The thermal decomposition behavior revealed that the precursors were completely decomposed at about 420 °C. TEM image shows agglomerated nanoparticles with crystallite sizes agrees well with that estimated by XRD measurement. XRD patterns show a secondary phase of LaFeO₃ besides the cubic structure of the La-substituted ferrites. The lattice parameters, X-ray density and crystallite size were found to increase with the increasing La content. The VSM measurement exhibited a ferromagnetic property for all the samples at room temperature. With increasing La, M_s was found to decrease while H_c increased. The decrease in the saturation magnetization is attributed to the paramagnetic properties of lanthanum, which prefer to substitute iron present in the octahedral sites. The increase in the coercivity is due to either the stronger magnetocrystalline anisotropy induced by La substitution or the change in the crystallite size.