Effect of doping of Zr–Zn binary mixtures on structural, electrical and magnetic properties of Sr-hexaferrite nanoparticles

Abstract

Nanoparticles of strontium hexaferrite doped with Zr–Zn are synthesized by a chemical co-precipitation method. The crystallite sizes of 30–47 nm are small enough to obtain a suitable signal to noise ratio for application in the magnetic recording media. The temperature dependent DC resistivity of Zr–Zn doped samples shows metal-to-semiconductor transition in the temperature ( T MS) range of 388–408 K. The Curie temperature, DC resistivity and activation energy for hopping decrease but the dielectric constant, dielectric loss and drift mobility increase by enhancing Zr–Zn content. With the substitution of Zr–Zn content of x ≤ 0.4 the saturation magnetization, magnetic moment and remanence increase from 71 to 92 kA m −1, 11.2–13.6 μB and 55–59 kA m −1, respectively, while coercivity decreases from 137 to 34 kA m −1. With the improvement in the values of the above-mentioned parameters, the synthesized materials may be suitable for potential application in recording media.