Nanoceramics of metastable ε-Fe2O3: effect of sintering on the magnetic properties and sub-terahertz electron resonance.

In this study, we demonstrate the sintering of metastable ε-Fe2O3 nanoparticles into nanoceramics containing 98 wt% of the epsilon iron oxide phase and with a specific density of 60%. At room temperature, the ceramics retain a giant coercivity of 20 kOe and a sub-terahertz absorption at 190 GHz inherent in the initial nanoparticles. The sintering leads to an increase in the frequencies of the natural ferromagnetic resonance at 200-300 K and larger coercivities at temperatures below 150 K. We propose a simple but working explanation of the low-temperature dynamics of the macroscopic magnetic parameters of the ε-Fe2O3 materials via the transition of the smallest nanoparticles into a superparamagnetic state. The results are confirmed by the temperature dependence of the magnetocrystalline anisotropy constant and micromagnetic modeling. In addition, based on the Landau-Lifshitz formalism, we discuss features of the spin dynamics in ε-Fe2O3 and the possibility of using nanoceramics as sub-terahertz spin-pumping media. Our observations will expand the applicability of ε-Fe2O3 materials and promote their integration into telecommunication devices of the next generation.

Hard ferrite magnetic insulators revealing giant coercivity and sub-terahertz natural ferromagnetic resonance at 5-300 K.

The temperature behavior of the magnetic properties is crucial for the application of magnetic materials. Recently, giant room temperature coercivities (20-36 kOe) and sub-terahertz natural ferromagnetic resonance (NFMR) frequencies (160-250 GHz) were observed for single-domain M-type hexaferrites with high aluminum substitution. Herein, the temperature dependences of the magnetic properties and natural ferromagnetic resonance are studied at 5-300 K for single-domain Sr1-x/12Cax/12Fe12-xAlxO19 (x = 1.5-5.5) particles. It is shown that the samples maintain their magnetic hardness over the whole temperature range. The coercivity and NFMR frequencies have a maximum shifting to the low-temperature region with a rise in aluminum concentration. The highest coercivity of 42 kOe and the maximum NFMR frequency of 297 GHz are observed for x = 5.5 at 180 K.

Dy3+ single ion magnet in the extended inorganic solid Ca(Y,Dy)AlO4.

The first instance of a rare-earth single-ion magnet in a robust extended solid has been found, which possesses a crystal structure different from apatite. The compound exhibits slow relaxation of magnetization in a zero field revealing simultaneously two energy barriers for magnetization reversal.

Correction: High-coercivity hexaferrite ceramics featuring sub-terahertz ferromagnetic resonance.

Correction for 'High-coercivity hexaferrite ceramics featuring sub-terahertz ferromagnetic resonance' by Evgeny A. Gorbachev et al., Mater. Horiz., 2022, 9, 1264-1272, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/D1MH01797G.

High-coercivity hexaferrite ceramics featuring sub-terahertz ferromagnetic resonance.

Herein, we demonstrate for the first time compact ferrite ceramics with giant coercivity. The materials are manufactured via sintering single-domain Sr0.67Ca0.33Fe8Al4O19 particles synthesized by a citrate-nitrate auto-combustion method. The obtained ceramics show coercivities up to 22.5 kOe and natural ferromagnetic resonance frequencies (NFMR) in a sub-THz range of 160-282 GHz. At a maximum density of 95%, the sample displays coercivity of 18.5 kOe, which is the highest value among dense ferrite materials reported so far. In addition, we report an unusual blueshift of the NFMR frequency from 160 to 200 GHz, which occurs during material sintering.

Sandwiched CoFe2O4/SrFe11.5Al0.5O19/CoFe2O4 nanoparticles with exchange-coupling effect.

Exchange-coupled hard/soft ferrite nanoparticles are prospective to squeeze out a part of expensive magnets based on rare-earth elements. However, the known exchange-coupled composite ferrite nanoparticles often suffer from the lack of a powerful enough hard magnetic core, high defectivity of magnetic phases, and a poor interface between them. Herein, we demonstrate the first efficient synthesis of sandwiched nanomagnets, which exhibit a pronounced exchange-coupling effect. This work is featured by the use of individual highly coercive strontium hexaferrite nanoplates prepared by a borate glass crystallization method as cores for the composite particles. The high crystal quality of the hexaferrite cores as the substrate promotes the epitaxial growth of CoFe2O4 layers on the 001 facets from an organic high-boiling solvent and results in the enhancement of the remanent magnetization and maximum energy product of the composite material. The results of this work open new prospects for the fabrication of multilayer oxide heterostructures with synergetic performance, which expands the applications of exchange-coupled composites.

Glass-Ceramic Synthesis of Cr-Substituted Strontium Hexaferrite Nanoparticles with Enhanced Coercivity.

Magnetically hard ferrites attract considerable interest due to their ability to maintain a high coercivity of nanosized particles and therefore show promising applications as nanomagnets ranging from magnetic recording to biomedicine. Herein, we report an approach to prepare nonsintered single-domain nanoparticles of chromium-substituted hexaferrite via crystallization of glass in the system SrO-Fe2O3-Cr2O3-B2O3. We have observed a formation of plate-like hexaferrite nanoparticles with diameters changing from 20 to 190 nm depending on the annealing temperature. We demonstrated that chromium substitution led to a significant improvement of the coercivity, which varied from 334 to 732 kA m-1 for the smallest and the largest particles, respectively. The results provide a new strategy for producing high-coercivity ferrite nanomagnets.

TbO+ in a calcium apatite matrix featuring a triple trigger-type relaxation of magnetization.

Tb for Ca substituted hydroxyapatite ceramic samples with composition Ca10-xTbx(PO4)6(OH1-x/2-δ)2, where x = 0.1, 0.5, were synthesized by solid-state reaction at 1300 °C in air, and their crystal structure, vibrational spectra, luminescence, and magnetic properties were studied. Implanting Tb3+ into the calcium apatite crystal lattice results in formation of an effective TbO+ ion which displays a short terbium-oxygen bond of 2.15 Å and a stretching vibration at 534 cm-1. The Tb3+ electronic structure has been revealed by analyzing the luminescence spectra and dc/ac magnetization data. Accordingly, the ground state represents a pseudo doublet with MJ = ±6 and the first exited level is by 112 cm-1 higher in energy. The ion exhibits field induced magnetic bistability with the magnetization reversing over the first exited state. Three paths of magnetization relaxation with field-temperature controlled switching between the paths have been identified.

Ca-Al double-substituted strontium hexaferrites with giant coercivity.

We demonstrate that the simultaneous substitution of calcium and aluminum for strontium and iron in strontium hexaferrite results in a significant increase of coercivity up to a record high of 21.3 kOe. We propose that the effect is originated from a crystal structure distortion causing an increase of the magnetocrystalline anisotropy.