Structural and Magnetic Properties of Yttrium and Lanthanum-doped Ni-Co and Ni-Co-Zn Spinel Ferrites

Rare earth doping of Co-rich spinel ferrites is investigated through the preparation of two groups of polycrystalline Ni-Co and Ni-Co-Zn ferrites, where Fe is partly substituted by Y and La. The characterization of the sintered ferrites by means of X-ray powder diffraction and Rietveld profile analysis, indicates the subtle expansion of the spinel unit cell and the cation redistribution in the doped ferrites in order to accommodate the incorporation of Y and La in the lattice. The impurity traces, detected only in the Ni-Co-Zn group, is ascribed to the Zn population in the tetrahedral A-sites impeding the cation transfer. Moreover, the examined microstructure of the doped Ni-Co samples comprises enlarged and more homogeneous grains, whereas grain growth is moderated in the doped Ni-Co-Zn ferrites. The discussed characteristics of the crystal and magnetic structure along with the morphological aspects define the impact of Y and La doping on the static magnetic properties of Ni-Co and Ni-Co-Zn ferrites, saturation magnetization M-S and coercivity H-C, which were extracted from the respective hysteresis loops.