Origin of the magnetic transition at 100 K in ε-Fe2O3 nanoparticles studied by x-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy

The current study unveils the structural origin of the magnetic transition of the epsilon-Fe2O3 polymorph from an incommensurate magnetic order to a collinear ferrimagnetic state at low temperature. The high crystallinity of the samples and the absence of oilier iron oxide polymorphs have allowed us to carry out temperature-dependent x-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy experiments out. The deformation of the structure is followed by the Debye-Waller factor for each selected Fe-O and Fe-Fe sub-shell. For nanoparticle sizes between 7 and 15 nm, the structural, distortions between the Fe-te and Fe-D1(oc) sites are localized in a temperature range before the magnetic transition starts. On the contrary, the inherent interaction between the other sub-shells (named Fe-O1,2 and Fe-Fe1) provokes cooperative magneto-structural changes in the same temperature range. This means that, the Fe-te with Fe-D1(oc) polyhedron interaction seems to be uncoupled with temperature dealing with these nanoparticle sizes wherein the structural distortions are likely moderate due to surface effects.