Preparation and magnetic properties of Y3Fe5O12 nanoparticles doped with the gadolinium oxide

Gd3+ -substituted garnet nanoparticles Y3-xGdxFe5O12 (X = 0.0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8 and 1.0) were fabricated by a sol-gel method and their crystalline structures and magnetic properties were investigated by using X-ray diffraction (XRD), IR spectroscopy and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). The XRD patterns Of Y3-xGdxFe5O12 have only peaks of the garnet structure and the sizes of particles range from 34 to 67 nm. Results of VSM show that the special saturation magnetization Of Y3-xGdxFe5O12 (0 < x <= 1) particles are not only obviously less than pure YIG, but also decrease with increasing Gd concentration (x) in a linear manner. Meanwhile, it is observed that with the enhancement of the surface spin effects, the saturation magnetization rises as the particle size is increased. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.