Peculiarities of Magnetic Behavior of CuO Nanoparticles Produced by Plasma-Arc Synthesis in a Wide Temperature Range

Abstract

Copper oxide nanoparticles, produced by direct plasmochemical synthesis in a low-pressure arc discharge plasma, show a wide variety of magnetic properties depending on the strength of the external magnetic field and the temperature. At low strength of the field and throughout the studied temperature range, the ferromagnetic state dominates. This state is caused by disordering of the spins on the surface of the nanoparticles. At high strength of the field and under temperatures of less than 200 K, nanoparticles exhibit a paramagnetic state due to the spin-glass behavior of copper atoms. At high strength of the field (more than 3 kOe) and under temperatures of above 300 K, the diamagnetic state of nanoparticles is observed, due to local eddy currents caused by oxygen vacancies. The temperature of antiferromagnetic ordering under study is significantly lowered (down to ∼ 100 K).