Study of dielectric and impedance properties of Mn ferrites

The paper reports on the effect of Al substitution on the structural and electrical properties of bulk ferrite series of basic composition MnFe_2−2xAl_2xO₄ (0.0≤x≤0.5) synthesized using solid state reaction method. XRD analysis confirms that all the samples exhibit single phase cubic spinel structure excluding presence of any secondary phase. The dielectric constant shows a normal behaviour with frequency, whereas the loss tangent exhibits an anomalous behaviour with frequency for all compositions. Variation of dielectric properties and ac conductivity with frequency reveals that the dispersion is due to Maxwell-Wagner type of interfacial polarization in general and hopping of charge between Fe⁺² and Fe⁺³ as well as between Mn⁺² and Mn⁺³ ions at octahedral sites. The complex impedance plane spectra shows the presence of two semicircles up to x=0.2, and only one semicircle for the higher values of x. The analysis of the data shows that the resistive and capacitive properties of the Mn ferrite are mainly due to processes associated with grain and grain boundaries.