Effect of In ions doping on the structural and magnetic properties of Mg0.2Mn0.5Ni0.3InxFe2−xO4 spinel ferrites

Effect of substitution of diamagnetic trivalent indium ions on the composition Mg_0.2Mn_0.5Ni_0.3In_xFe_2−xO₄ with x varying from 0.1 to 0.3 in steps of 0.1 using citrate precursor techniques has been investigated. Single-phase cubic spinel structure of these samples has been confirmed from X-ray diffraction analyses. Micro structural features were examined by TEM images. Lattice constant ‘a’ initially increases up to x = 0.1 and thereafter it decreases with further increase in x. This indicates that variation of ‘a’ with x do not obey Vegard's law. Nonlinear behavior of ‘a’ with x may be due to substitutional effect of larger In³⁺ ions (0.91Å) with smaller Fe³⁺ ions (0.67Å) in Mg-Mn-Ni ferrite. Ferrites have been investigated for their structural and magnetic properties such as variations in lattice constant, saturation magnetization, coercivity, retentivity, initial permeability, magnetic loss and relative loss factor (RLF). Fairly constant value of initial permeability over a wide frequency range (0.075–10 MHz) and low values of relative loss factor of order of 10⁻⁶–10⁻⁵ in same frequency range are main achievement of present investigations. RLF has been reduced by three orders of magnitude as compared to those samples prepared by conventional method. Low values of relative loss factor even at a high frequency indicate that prepared materials may have great potential for use in microwave devices. Possible mechanisms contributing to these properties have been discussed in this paper.