Structural, dielectric and low temperature magnetic response of Zn doped cobalt ferrite nanoparticles.

The finely controlled nanostructured cubic spinel ferrites pave the way to synthesize nanomaterials with specific properties for particular applications. In this paper, we report sol-gel synthesis of Zn doped spinel Co_1-xZn_xFe₂O₄ (where x= 0.0, 0.1, 0.2, and 0.3) ferrite nanoparticles. X-ray diffraction confirms the single phase cubic structure of nano ferrites with average particle size estimated between 55.38 to 32.87 nm and validated by Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) results (±1). The lattice parameter was found to increase with increasing Zn doping concentration. The samples exhibit normal dielectric behaviour of Maxwell-Wagner type of interfacial polarization that decreases with increasing frequency of the applied field. Temperature-dependent magnetic properties were investigated with the aid of physical property system. The hysteresis measurements of the samples show clearly enhancement in magnetic parameters as the temperature goes down to 20 K. Tuning of magnetic properties has been witnessed as a function of doping and temperature under the influence of externally applied magnetic field, has been discussed in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]