Structural, morphological, and magneto-dielectric features of Ni-Co-Pr ferrites for high density memory and high frequency devices

Abstract

Praseodymium (Pr3+) substituted Nickel-Cobalt ferrites with composition Ni0.3Co0.7PrxFe2-xO4 and concentration (x = 0.00, 0.05, 0.10, 0.15, 0.20) were synthesized via sol–gel approach. The crystallite size was lying in 10.94–25.44 nm range having decreasing tendency and lattice constant was varying between 8.30 and 8.39 Å. Two absorption bands were seen in infrared spectroscopy around 550 cm−1 and 430 cm−1, representing spinel structure. Morphological analysis revealed particle size of ≈ 26.87 nm. Magnetic investigations disclosed decreasing trend in saturation magnetization (Ms), retentivity (Mr) and coercivity (Hc) and were determined in 19.77–50.75 emu/g, 0.77–19.48 emu/g, and 87.23–943.27 Oe range, respectively. Dielectric parameters showed decreasing trend with increase in frequency. Dielectric constant and loss were decreased from 3.64 to 2.59 and 0.502–0.420 for Pr3+ concentration × = 0.00–0.20 at 0.5 GHz, respectively. AC conductivity showed elevation with increasing applied frequency. These reported magneto-dielectric features suggest possible use of material in high density memory and high frequency devices.