Study the physical, electrical and dielectric properties of calcium doped Ni-Zn ferrites

Calcium doped Ni-Zn ferrites having the nominal composition Ni0.6Zn0.4-xCaxFe2O4 (x = 0,0.1, 0.2, 0.3 and 0.4) are prepared via the conventional ceramic method at 1250 degrees C for 3 h to study their physical, electrical and dielectric properties at high frequencies which have extended their applications. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) have been used to characterize the microstructure and surface morphology of the prepared composition. XRD patterns reveal the formation of pure spinel phase ferrites whereas SEM micrographs display nonhomogeneous grains of polyhedral shape. The studies disclose that with increasing Ca content in spinel, the lattice parameter of the Ni-Zn ferrite increases and at the same time the grain boundary also increases. As a result of the increased boundary, the large grains could be trapped pores inside the grains which have affected the density, resistivity and dielectric constant of the sample. The DC electrical resistivity of the prepared sample decreases with the increase of Ca content. Also, the resistivity decreases with increasing the temperature. This increase in the conductivity with temperature must be regarded mainly as due to the thermally activated mobility of charge carriers, but not to a thermally activated creation of these carriers. The dielectric constant decreases with the increasing frequency following the Verway-de-Boer hopping mechanism.