Dependence of magnetic properties and microstructure of mechanically alloyed Ni0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4 on soaking time

Possible soaking-time effects on the magnetic and microstructural properties of polycrystalline samples of Ni_0.5Zn_0.5Fe₂O₄ have been studied. Nanosize powder produced by mechanical alloying was sintered at 800 °C with various soaking times. All samples showed the signature peak of Ni_0.5Zn_0.5Fe₂O₄ even with one hour of soaking time. The size distributions show a slow growth of microstructural evolution related to density, porosity and also to the magnetic hysteresis loops. Within these distributions it is observed that the formation of multi-domains is not possible and probably there are the regions of superparamagnetic and single-domain grains. From the permeability studies, it is believed that the rise of the magnetic moment on the B sites give rise to the total saturation magnetization with increase of soaking time. The hysteresis loop of one-hour soaking time showed paramagnetic behavior dominating while longer soaking times showed ferromagnetic behavior starting to dominate. The coercivity was observed to increase with soaking time, signaling the increase of the anisotropy fields which was attributed to the shape anisotropy and also to the magnetocrystalline anisotropy. By correlating the morphology, phase analysis, permeability and hysteresis loops results, it is believed that there was an increase in number of crystalline-growth regions which together formed a total mass of mixed superparamagnetic and ferromagnetic grains with the latter starting to dominate the samples.