Effect of Y2O3 doping on the electrical transport properties of Sr2MnNiFe12O22 Y-type hexaferrite

Y₂O₃ doped Y-type composite hexa-ferrites Sr₂MnNiFe₁₂O₂₂ + xY₂O₃ (x = 0 wt%, 1 wt%, 2 wt%, 3 wt%, 4 wt%, 5 wt%) were synthesized successfully using sol-gel auto combustion technique. X-ray diffraction analysis reveals Y-type hexagonal structure with few traces of secondary phases. The decrease in grain size as a function of Yttrium content is attributed to the fact that Yttrium acts as a grain inhibitor. The DC resistivity was observed to increase with increasing Yttrium-contents due to the unavailability of Fe³⁺ ions at octahedral sites. Activation energy showed that the samples with high resistivity have high value of activation energy and vice versa. Permittivity decreases with the increase of frequency following Maxwell Wagner Model. In addition, the doped samples exhibit very low dielectric constant and low loss tangent in frequency range 20 Hz–1 MHz. The sample x = 5 wt% exhibit the lowest value of dielectric constant. The variation in imaginary part of dielectric constant and loss tangent with frequency show normal dielectric behavior for all the samples. The frequency dependent ac conductivity increases with increase in frequency and decrease with Y₂O₃ doping. These characteristics may be suitable for their potential applications in electromagnetic attenuation materials and microwave devices. The conductivity mechanism so determined was hopping mechanism. The dc resistivity of the doped ferrites measured in our case is about 10¹⁰ Ω-cm that meets the requirement for fabrication of components by electroplating.