Manipulating and investigating the room-temperature magnetic memory phenomenon: The impact of rare-earth ion doping on nickel oxide nanoparticles

This study investigates the relationship between point defect density and magnetic properties in nickel oxide (NiO) nanoparticles (NPs). Specifically, we explore the effects of 0.5 % trivalent rare-earth ion (RE3+: Ce3+, Pr3+, Nd3+, Sm3+, and Dy3+) doping on NiO NPs, considering the influence of RE3+ionic radius on structural modulation and magnetic properties. Our findings reveal important trends: increased microstrain (0.08 %–0.17 %) and decreased crystalline size (36–17 nm) with increasing ionic radius (r = 0.91 to 1.01 Å), along with a preference for growth along the (1 1 1) plane over (2 0 0). Additionally, multivalent point defects increase with the increase of ionic radius. Substituting Ni2+site with RE3+ion promotes nearest-neighbor weak ferromagnetic interaction over next-nearest-neighbor strong antiferromagnetic (AF) interaction. This leads to a redshift of two magnons (2 M) frequency by 50 cm−1and enhanced room temperature (RT) magnetization (0.23–0.43 emu/g) with increasing ionic radius. Ce-doped NiO (r = 1.01 Å) shows the smallest crystalline size (17 nm), maximum 2 M redshift, and enhanced RT magnetization (0.43 emu/g) based on interacting bound magnetic polaron model. Ce-, Pr-, Nd-, and Sm-doped NiO NPs exhibit RT magnetic memory effects, while Dy-doped NiO NPs (r = 0.912 Å) display AF properties. Our analysis provides valuable insights for designing RT magnetic memory materials with tailored properties through suitable RE3+ion substitutions.