Influence of rare-earth La3+ ion doping on microstructural, magnetic and dielectric properties of Mg0.5Ni0.5Fe2-xLaxO4 (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.1) ferrite nanoparticles

A series of La3+ ion doped magnesium nickel ferrites, Mg0.5Ni0.5Fe2-xLaxO4 (0 <= x <= 0.1) having a cubic spinel structure were prepared by the co-precipitation method. Various characterization techniques, including X-ray diffractometer (XRD), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM), electron spin resonance (ESR) and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) were used to investigate structural and magnetic properties. The average crystallite size decreases and lattice parameter increases with La3+ ion doping and lie in the range of 12-7 nm and 8.347-8.361 angstrom respectively. Analysis of ESR spectra reveals that, g-value with La3+ ion addition decreases from 2.57 to 2.12. The saturation magnetization and the coercivity decrease with increasing rare-earth content. Magnetic-hysteresis (M - H) loop shifts from a ferromagnetic to a superparamagnetic nature with La3+ ion addition. The dielectric study was carried out in the frequency range of 1 KHz to 4000 KHz and temperature ranging 30 degree celsius-350 degree celsius using the impedance analyzer. The dielectric constant decreases with increasing frequency and the La3+ ion concentration. The dielectric loss of the sample increases with increasing temperature. The magnetic properties of the synthesized nanoparticles make them a potential material for stable ferrofluid application and the low tangent loss value makes these material a potential candidate for frequency-based applications.