Structural elucidation, and morphological and magnetic behavior evaluations, of low-temperature sintered, Ce-doped, nanostructured garnet ferrites

Low-temperature sintered CexGd3.5-xFe4.5O12 (x = 0.0, 0.4, 0.8, 1.2, 1.6, 2.0 and 2.4) garnet ferrites were synthesized via a sol-gel self-combustion route. Phase, structure, morphology and magnetic investigations were done using FTIR, XRD, FESEM, and VSM, respectively. Single-phase structures of all Ce3+ substituted nano-sized garnet ferrites were confirmed through XRD. The crystallite size was decreased with Ce3+ incorporation. Relevant structural parameters such as site radii, bond lengths, ionic radii, and shared edges were calculated using XRD. The vibrational spectroscopy stretching band studies were also done using FTIR. The grain size and morphology were also analyzed using FESEM. The magnetic remanance, saturation, and coercivity were found to increase systematically with an increase in Ce3+ concentration in these garnets. Switching field distribution curves were also plotted using the first derivative of the demagnetization data from MH loops. The better magnetic properties of these nanogarnets suggest their use for miniaturization of the devices in various applications.