Radiation effect on optical,morphological and magnetic properties of aluminum-substituted M phase barium hexaferrite

The effect of gamma irradiation on the features of aluminum-substituted barium hexagonal ferrite particles BaAl_xFe_12?xO₁₉ with 0?≤?x?≤?3.5 has been studied. Optical absorption measurements have been performed and the results reflected a great dependence of the fundamental absorption edge on the radiation dose. It is found that the calculated optical band gap (E_g) increases due to an increase in the homogeneity with an increase in the Al content. Increasing the radiation dose up to 1?MGy induces a direct transition and consequently decreases the energy gap. This behavior is associated with the generation of excess electronic localized states. Moreover, the characteristic features of the irradiated samples have been studied using a scanning electron microscope. Also, all samples were characterized using the X-ray diffraction technique, and the values of crystal size, microstrain and dislocation density were calculated. On the other hand, the magnetic behavior of the samples was studied using a vibrating sample magnetometer technique after each radiation dose. The saturation magnetization (M_s) and the magneton number (n_B) decrease with an increase in the Al³⁺ substitution and at the same time decrease with the radiation dose 250?kGy to 1?MGy.