Effects of ytterbium substitution on the structural, electrical and magnetic properties of Ni–Zn–Co ferrites for microwave equipment

Abstract

Given the significant impact of microstructure and material composition on material properties, this paper utilizes ytterbium nitrate to enhance the dielectric and magnetic characteristics of NiZnCo ferrite ceramics. In this study, Ni0.5Zn0.4Co0.1Yb0.075Fe1.925O4 ferrites with lower magnetic losses and a substantial cutoff frequency were successfully created using the sol-gel self-propagating method. The study reveals that the adding of ytterbium ions rises the lattice constant from 8.3377 to 8.3586 Å, the porosity from 4.77% to 6.92%, theoretical X-ray density from 5.43 to 5.66 g/cm3, and bulk density from 5.18 g/cm3 to 5.27 g/cm3. The incorporation of ytterbium ions in ferrite decreases the dielectric constant as well as dielectric losses, enhances the DC resistance, and lowers the eddy current loss in the frequency range of 100 Hz to 1 MHz. The addition of ytterbium ions decreases the initial permeability and saturation magnetization of the material while increasing its magnetic quality factor. Additionally, the cut-off frequency shifted to a higher frequency range, from 25.7 MHz to 121.61 MHz, while exhibiting lower losses at higher frequencies. The addition of ytterbium ions has expanded the potential applications of NiZnCo ferrite in high-frequency microwave devices and wireless communications.