Structure and 57Fe conversion electron Mossbauer spectroscopy study of Mn-Zn ferrite nanocrystal thin films by electroless plating in aqueous solution

Mn1-xZnxFe2O4 thin films with various Zn contents and of different thickness were synthesized on glass substrates directly by electroless plating in aqueous solution at 90C without heat treatment. The Mn-Zn ferrite films have a single spinel phase structure and well-crystallized columnar grains growing perpendicularly to the substrates. The results of conversion electron Fe-57 Mossbauer spectroscopy (CEMS) indicate that the cation distribution of Mn1-xZnxFe2O4 ferrite nanocrystal thin films fabricated by electroless plating is different from the bulk materials' and a great quantity of Fe3+ ions are still present on A sites for x > 0.5. When the Zn content of the films increases, Fe3+ ions in the films transfer from A sites to B sites and the hyperfine magnetic field reduces, suggesting that Zn2+ has strong chemical affinity towards the A sites. On the other side, with the increase of the thickness of the films, Fe3+ ions, at B sites in the spinel structure, increase and the array of magnetic moments no longer lies in the thin film plane completely. At x = 0.5, H-c and M-s of Mn1-xZnxFe2O4 thin films show a minimum of 3.7 kA/m and a maximum of 419.6 kA/m, respectively.