Low-temperature cluster spin glass transition in the single-domain NiCr2O4 nanoparticles

Abstract

NiCr2O4 nanoparticles with average particle size ∼15 nm, a single-domain size maintains the bulk canted antiferromagnetic ground state, were synthesized by a microwave combustion method. The magnetic behavior was carefully investigated by static and dynamic magnetic susceptibility measurements. In addition to a spin-glass-like behavior below paramagnetic-ferrimagnetic transition at T C, the NiCr2O4 nanoparticles demonstrate a low-temperature cluster spin glass transition below the spin canting transition T S, which manifests itself as a magnetic anomaly peak around ∼12 K (at 100 Oe) in the zero-field cooled magnetization with a relatively stronger field dependence in a ‘de Almeida-Thouless’ line for spin glasses. The AC susceptibility analyses in different approaches demonstrate a larger relative peak temperature variation per frequency decade and a longer characteristic relaxation time in the order of 0.04 and 10−7 s, against 0.01 and 10−9 s for the high-temperature blocking, indicating the slow spin dynamics for the low-temperature cluster glassy phase. A field-temperature magnetic phase diagram is proposed for the single-domain NiCr2O4 nanoparticles.