Magnetic properties of iron-based soft magnetic composites with MgO coating obtained by sol-gel method

Soft magnetic composites with a thin MgO insulating layer were produced by a sol-gel method. Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, density measurement and compositional maps confirmed that thin layers of MgO covered the iron powders. Coercivity measurement showed that the stress relaxation and reduction of hysteresis loss efficiently occurred at 600 °C. At this temperature, the phosphate insulation of commercial SOMALOY^TM samples degrade and their electrical resistivity, magnetic permeability and operating frequency decreases noticeably. The results show that the MgO insulation has a greater heat resistance than conventional phosphate insulation, which enables stress-relief at higher temperatures (600 °C) without a large increase in eddy current loss. The results of annealing at 600 °C show that the electrical resistivity and ferromagnetic resonance frequency increased from 11 μΩ m and 1 kHz for SOMALOY^TM samples to 145 μΩ m and 100 kHz for the MgO insulated composites produced in this work.     

Characteristics of soft magnetic composite material under rotating magnetic fluxes

This paper reports the measurement of magnetic properties of the soft magnetic composite material SOMALOY^TM 500 in a square sample under different patterns of flux density with 2D magnetic excitations. The test system, principle of measurement, magnetic power loss calculation, and methods of correction for misalignment of H surface sensing coils are presented. The experimental results show that although nominally isotropic, the SOMALOY^TM 500 sample exhibits some anisotropy. The results are useful in the design and performance analysis of rotating electrical machines.     

Measurement and modelling of magnetic properties of soft magnetic composite material under 2D vector magnetisations

This paper reports the measurement and modelling of magnetic properties of SOMALOY^TM 500, a soft magnetic composite (SMC) material, under different 2D vector magnetisations, such as alternating along one direction, circularly and elliptically rotating in a 2D plane. By using a 2D magnetic property tester, the B–H curves and core losses of the SMC material have been measured with different flux density patterns on a single sheet square sample. The measurements can provide useful information for modelling of the magnetic properties, such as core losses. The core loss models have been successfully applied in the design of rotating electrical machines with SMC core.     

Room temperature ferromagnetism of amorphous MgO films prepared by pulsed laser deposition

Amorphous MgO thin films were prepared by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) under various oxygen pressures. The structural, magnetic, and optical properties of the films were investigated. All as-deposited samples exhibit room temperature ferromagnetism, which depend strongly on oxygen pressure. It is found that the saturation magnetization (M _s) initially increases with the oxygen pressure, the maximum M _s of 8.57 emu/cm³ is obtained for the MgO film deposited under an oxygen pressure of 2 mTorr. However, the M _s significantly reduces at higher oxygen pressures. Further X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and photoluminescence demonstrate that the long-range magnetic order in amorphous MgO films can be attributed to the nonstoichiometry effect and the presence of Mg vacancies.     

Effects of magnetic annealing on structure and multiferroic properties of pure and dysprosium substituted BiFeO3

In this work, the effects of magnetic annealing on crystal structure and multiferroic properties of BiFeO₃ and Bi_0.85Dy_0.15FeO₃ have been investigated. It is found that the X-ray diffraction patterns of pure BiFeO₃ samples are obviously broadened after magnetic annealing, whereas those of Bi_0.85Dy_0.15FeO₃ samples are almost unchanged. Magnetic field annealing did not affect the magnetic properties of these two kinds of samples much. However, ferroelectric properties of the two materials exhibited different behaviors after magnetic field annealing. For pure BiFeO₃ samples, the remnant polarizations (P_r) are suppressed; in contrast, for Bi_0.85Dy_0.15FeO₃ samples, P_r is greatly enhanced. Possible mechanisms for the effects of magnetic field annealing have been discussed.     

Microstructure and some magnetic properties of bulk amorphous (Fe0.61Co0.10Zr0.025Hf0.025Ti0.02W0.02B0.20)100−xYx (x=0, 2, 3 or 4) alloys

Microstructure, revealed by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy and Mössbauer spectroscopy, and magnetic properties such as magnetic susceptibility, its disaccommodation, core losses and approach to magnetic saturation in bulk amorphous (Fe_0.61Co_0.10Zr_0.025Hf_0.025Ti_0.02W_0.02B_0.20)_100−xY_x (x=0, 2, 3 or 4) alloys in the as-cast state and after the annealing in vacuum at 720 K for 15 min. are studied. The investigated alloys are ferromagnetic at room temperature. The average hyperfine field induction decreases with Y concentration. Due to annealing out of free volumes its value increases after the heat treatment of the samples. The magnetic susceptibility and core losses point out that the best thermal stability by the amorphous (Fe_0.61Co_0.10Zr_0.025Hf_0.025Ti_0.02W_0.02B_0.20)₉₇Y₃ alloy is exhibited. Moreover, from Mössbauer spectroscopy investigations it is shown that the mentioned above alloy is the most homogeneous. The atom packing density increases with Y concentration, which is proved by the magnetic susceptibility disaccommodation and approach to magnetic saturation studies.     

Influence of annealing temperature on structural, optical and magnetic properties of Mn-doped ZnO thin films prepared by sol-gel method

Thin films of Zn_1−xMn_xO (x=0.01) diluted magnetic semiconductor were prepared on Si (1 0 0) substrates by the sol-gel method. The influence of annealing temperature on the structural, optical and magnetic properties was studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD), atom force microscopy (AFM), photoluminescence (PL) and SQUID magnetometer (MPMS, Quantum Design). The XRD spectrum shows that all the films are single crystalline with (0 0 2) preferential orientation along c-axis, indicating there are not any secondary phases. The atomic force microscopy images show the surfaces morphologies change greatly with an increase in annealing temperature. PL spectra reveal that the films marginally shift the near band-edge (NBE) position due to stress. The magnetic measurements of the films using SQUID clearly indicate the room temperature ferromagnetic behavior, and the Curie temperature of the samples is above room temperature. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) patterns suggest that Mn²⁺ ions were successfully incorporated into the lattice position of Zn²⁺ ions in ZnO host. It is also found that the post-annealing treatment can affect the ferromagnetic behavior of the films effectively.     

Effect of thermal process on magnetic anisotropy in FeCoB soft underlayer

Relationship between magnetic anisotropy field H_k and thermal processes during the preparation has been studied for FeCoB thin films. The FeCoB films deposited on the glass substrates by facing targets sputtering successfully showed strong magnetic anisotropy when the substrate was heated at the substrate temperature T_s above 100 °C. Additionally, the lattice spacing of FeCo(1 1 0) in the perpendicular direction was found to decrease depending on the substrate temperature T_s. Among various temperature histories, the heating processes with a phase of increasing T_s revealed the further improvement of H_k. Meanwhile, high H_k in the films disappears after the post-deposition annealing at the temperature above 400 °C.     

Controlling magnetic properties of iron oxide nanoparticles using post-synthesis thermal treatment

Changes in morphological and magnetic properties of Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles before and after annealing are investigated in the present work. The nanoparticles are synthesized in a standard capacitively coupled plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition system with two electrodes using ferrocene as the source compound. Post annealing, due to the sintering process, the particles fuse along with recrystallization. This results in increased size of the nanoparticles and the interparticle interaction, which play a major role in deciding the magnetic properties. X-ray diffraction patterns of the samples before and after annealing indicate a phase change from Fe₃O₄ to Fe₂O₃. Annealing at 200 ^°C causes the apparent saturation magnetization to increase from 6 emu?g^?1 to 15 emu?g^?1. When annealed at 500 ^°C, the magnetic properties of the nanoparticles resemble those of the bulk material. The evidence for the transition from a superparamagnetic state to a collective state is also observed when annealed at 500 ^°C. Variation of the magnetic relaxation data with annealing also reflects the change in the magnetic state brought about by the annealing. The correlation between annealing temperature and the magnetic properties can be used to obtain nanocrystallites of iron oxide with different sizes and magnetic properties.     

Correlation between site preference and magnetic properties of substituted strontium ferrite thin films

SrFe_12−x(Sn_0.5Zn_0.5)_xO₁₉ thin films with x=0−5 were synthesized by a sol-gel method on thermally oxidized silicon wafer (Si/SiO₂). The site preference and magnetic properties of Zn-Sn substituted strontium ferrite thin films were studied using ⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy and magnetic measurements. Mössbauer spectra displayed that the Zn-Sn ions preferentially occupy the 2b and 4f₂ sites. The preference for these sites is responsible for the anomalous increase in the magnetization at high Zn-Sn substitutions. X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns and field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM) micrographs demonstrated that single phase c-axis hexagonal ferrite films with rather narrow grain size distribution were obtained. Vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) was employed to probe magnetic properties of samples. The maximum saturation of magnetization and coercivity at perpendicular direction were 265 emu/g and 6.3 kOe, respectively. It was found that the complex susceptibility has linear variation with static magnetic field.     

Electronic and magnetic properties of CeAl2 nanoparticles

We presented the X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) and X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) studies of heavy fermion compound CeAl₂ bulk and 8 nm nanoparticles, performed at the Ce M_4,5- and L₃- absorption edges. XMCD and XAS revealed that Ce in bulk CeAl₂ exhibits localized 4f¹ character with magnetic ordering. The Ce in nanoparticles, on the other hand, shows a small amount delocalized 4f⁰ character with non-magnetic Kondo behavior. By applying general sum rules, an estimation of the orbital and spin contribution to those Ce 4f moments can be obtained. Our results also demonstrated that the magnetic behavior in CeAl₂ is very sensitive to the degree of localization of the 4f electrons.     

Fabrication of ferromagnetic (Ga,Mn)As by ion irradiation

Using Mn⁺ implantation following ion beam-induced epitaxial crystallization (IBIEC) annealing, high Curie temperature ferromagnetic (Ga,Mn)As thin film was fabricated. The crystalline quality of the Mn⁺ implanted layer was identified by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). A clear ferromagnetic transition at T_c 253 K was observed by magnetization vs. temperature measurement. We infer that IBIEC treatment is a useful method not only for the low-temperature annealing of (Ga,Mn)As thin films but also for other dilute magnetic semiconductor (DMS) samples.     

Structure,magnetic properties and magnetostriction of Fe81Ga19 thin films

The structure, magnetic properties and magnetostriction of Fe₈₁Ga₁₉ thin films have been investigated by using X-ray diffraction analysis, scanning electron microscope (SEM), vibrating sample magnetometer and capacitive cantilever method. It was found that the grain size of as-deposited Fe₈₁Ga₁₉ thin films is 50–60 nm and the grain size increases with increase in the annealing temperature. The remanence ratio (M_r/M_s) of the thin films slowly decreases with increase in the annealing temperature. However, the coercivity of the thin films goes the opposite way with increase in the annealing temperature. A preferential orientation of the Fe₈₁Ga₁₉ thin film fabricated under an applied magnetic field exists along 〈1 0 0〉 direction due to the function of magnetic field during sputtering. An in-plane-induced anisotropy of the thin film is well formed by the applied magnetic field during the sputtering and the formation of in-plane-induced anisotropy results in 90° rotations of the magnetic domains during magnetization and in the increase of magnetostriction for the thin film.     

Effect of oxygen annealing on the Mn properties in ZnMnO Films

We studied the influence of thermal annealing in oxygen on the physical properties of MOCVD grown Zn_1−xMn_xO thin layers. Annealing in the 300–1000 °C temperature range modifies both lattice parameters and magnetic properties of the layers. Correlation of the results from X-ray diffraction, EPR studies and Raman spectroscopy indicate a modification of the Mn⁺²-related features in the ZnO matrix.     

A comparative study of the physical properties of Sb2S3 thin films treated with N2 AC plasma and thermal annealing in N2

As-deposited antimony sulfide thin films prepared by chemical bath deposition were treated with nitrogen AC plasma and thermal annealing in nitrogen atmosphere. The as-deposited, plasma treated, and thermally annealed antimony sulfide thin films have been characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, UV-vis spectroscopy, and electrical measurements. The results have shown that post-deposition treatments modify the crystalline structure, the morphology, and the optoelectronic properties of Sb₂S₃ thin films. X-ray diffraction studies showed that the crystallinity of the films was improved in both cases. Atomic force microscopy studies showed that the change in the film morphology depends on the post-deposition treatment used. Optical emission spectroscopy (OES) analysis revealed the plasma etching on the surface of the film, this fact was corroborated by the energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy analysis. The optical band gap of the films (E_g) decreased after post-deposition treatments (from 2.36 to 1.75 eV) due to the improvement in the grain sizes. The electrical resistivity of the Sb₂S₃ thin films decreased from 10⁸ to 10⁶ Ω-cm after plasma treatments.     

Magnetic microstructure of candidates for epitaxial dual Heusler magnetic tunnel junctions

Heusler alloys are considered as interesting ferromagnetic electrode materials for magnetic tunnel junctions, because of their high spin polarization. We, therefore, investigated the micromagnetic properties in a prototypical thin film system comprising two different Heusler phases Co₂MnSi (CMS) and Co₂FeSi (CFS) separated by a MgO barrier. The magnetic microstructure was investigated by X-ray photoemission electron microscopy (XPEEM). We find a strong influence of the Heusler phase formation process on the magnetic domain patterns. SiO₂/V/CMS/MgO/CFS and SiO₂/V/CFS/MgO/CMS trilayer structures exhibit a strikingly different magnetic behavior, which is due to pinhole coupling through the MgO barrier and a strong thickness dependence of the magnetic ordering in Co₂MnSi.     

Impedance spectroscopy study of the sintering of yttria-stabilized zirconia/magnesia composites

In the present study, the sintering of (ZrO₂:8 mol%Y₂O₃)_1 ? m–(MgO)_m, YSZ–mMg composites, with m in the 0–30 mol% range, has been investigated by impedance spectroscopy (IS), dilatometry, and X-ray diffraction. Impedance diagrams were collected at 400 °C after heating the green compacts up to a selected sintering temperature, which was increased stepwise from 800 to 1400 °C. The combined experimental results revealed that the samples can be separated in two categories: below and above the solubility limit of MgO in the YSZ (m ~ 10). Moreover, important microstructural features associated with both the sintering process and solid solution formation of YSZ–mMgO samples were correlated to the electrical properties inferred by IS.     

Structural and magnetic characterization of LaSrMnO3 thin films deposited by laser ablation on MgO substrates

La_2/3Sr_1/3MnO_3?δ thin films were deposited by laser ablation on MgO substrates under low oxygen pressure cool down. Their structural and magnetic properties are presented. The magnetic and electrical resistivity measurements indicate a reduction of the Curie and the metal–insulator transition temperatures due to the formation of magnetic inhomogeneneous films, where clusters of a metallic phase are mixed in a magnetically disordered insulating matrix. By a low-angle X-ray reflectivity study we show that the thin films are chemically inhomogeneous with an oxygen deficiency in bulk of the film when compared with the film/air interfacial region.     

57Co-emission Mössbauer study on diluted magnetic semiconductor TiO2 films

Rutile-type Co _x Ti_1???x O_2???d laser deposited on alumina substrate was studied after ⁵⁷Co doping, using emission Mössbauer spectroscopy. It was found that although under certain conditions (i.e., which result in high conductivity) the thin rutile layers showed magnetooptical effect, the Mössbauer probe did not reveal any magnetic splitting, but showed paramagnetic Co^3?+? (Fe^3?+?) in the films of low electric resistance. This supports that these samples have carrier induced magnetism which is also connected to the defect structure of the rutile films.     

Effect of pH value on the structural and magnetic properties of nanocrystalline strontium hexaferrite thin films

Strontium hexaferrite SrFe₁₂O₁₉ thin films have been synthesized at different pH, adjusted by NH₄OH, on the Si (1 0 0) substrate using a spin coating sol-gel process. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analysis and theoretical calculations were conducted for determination and controlling metal citrates in solution precursors. X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and vibrating sample magnetometer were applied to evaluate the composition, microstructure, crystallite size and magnetic properties of the SrFe₁₂O₁₉ thin films. Using the solution with pH 7, the approximately single phase strontium hexaferrite thin films with optimum physical properties can be obtained at calcination temperature of 800 °C. The SrFe₁₂O₁₉ thin films derived from the solution with pH 7 after calcination at 800 °C exhibited crystallite size of 42 nm and magnetic properties of M_s=267 emu/cm³ (at 10 kOe), M_r=134 emu/cm³ and H_c=4290 Oe.