Signature of exchange bias and spin-glass like phenomena in Fe/CoO nanocomposite

Nanocomposite of Fe/CoO having 10 at. wt. % of alpha-Fe has been prepared by the high energy ball-milling method. The average particle size was estimated to be 15nm from the results obtained by the rietveld refinement of x-ray diffraction pattern. The presence of exchange coupling at the interface of ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic components was confirmed from the shift observed in field-cooled (FC) magnetic hysteresis loop. Irreversibility in temperature dependent zero field cooled (ZFC)-FC magnetization at different applied fields indicates the presence of spin-glass like (SGL) phase. Memory effect observed in the temperature dependent dc-magnetization at FC condition confirmed the existence of SGL state. It is argued that polydispersity and defects at the interfaces of nanoparticles are the possible causes of the observed SGL phase. (C) 2013 American Institute of Physics.