Cobalt-Based Ferrites Characterization Using Two Different Terahertz Time-Domain Spectrometers

Abstract

We report an experimental study of the electrical properties of manganese cobalt (MnCo) and nickel cobalt (NiCo) ferrites in the terahertz (THz) frequency band. The study is motivated by the potential of MnCo, NiCo, and other magnetic ceramics for the fabrication of active and passive devices for THz wave communications. Using two different terahertz (THz) time-domain spectroscopy systems, we characterized the optical constants of cobalt ferrites doped with manganese and nickel in the technologically important 0.2–1 THz frequency band. The MnCo and NiCo ferrites investigated in our study exhibit a lower refractive index and absorption coefficient in the 0.2–1 THz frequency band than commercial strontium ferrite. We observed that using different valency ion oxide leads to a sudden change of the refractive index as a function of sample stoichiometries. Our experimental results provide evidence that microwave ferrite technology can be extended to the THz frequency band.