Structural and Magnetic Phase Transitions in Cu1-3xZn2xMnxFe2O4 Ferrites
نویسندگان
1 School of Physics, Damghan University, Damghan, Iran
2 School of Physics, Damghan University, Damghan, Iran
doi
10.22075/ppam.2025.37277.1141چکیده
Doping spinel ferrites with carefully selected dopants is a common approach to enhance the physical properties of the base ferrite. Zn/Mn co-substituted CuFe2O4, represented as Cu1-3xZn2xMnxFe2O4, was prepared by the auto-combustion method. The primary goal was to study the effects of varying Zn/Mn levels on the structural, optical, and magnetic properties of CuFe2O4 spinel ferrites. As the Zn/Mn co-substitution level increased, a notable structural phase change from a tetragonal phase with I41/amd space group to a cubic phase with Fd m space group was observed. This finding was further validated through FTIR spectroscopy analysis. Interestingly, the bandgap energy of the co-substituted ferrites showed a clear dependence on the substitution levels, ranging from 1.68 eV to 1.98 eV. This variation in optical properties is a significant result, as it allows researchers to fine-tune the bandgap energy of these materials based on specific application requirements. Furthermore, the saturation magnetization of the co-substituted ferrites exhibited a considerable shift as the Zn/Mn levels increased. A hard-to-soft magnetic phase transition was observed, indicating a substantial change in the materials' magnetic behavior. This discovery highlights the potential to tailor the magnetic properties of CuFe2O4 spinel ferrites by carefully controlling the Zn/Mn co-substitution levels. Overall, the findings from this study demonstrate that Zn/Mn co-substitution is an effective technique to modify the properties of CuFe2O4 spinel ferrites.