Mechanochemical decomposition of Gd3Fe5O12 garnet phase

Gadolinium iron garnet was milled in a high energy ball mill to study its magnetic properties in the nanocrystalline regime. XRD reveals the decomposition of the garnet phase into Gd-orthoferrite and Gd2O3 on milling. The variation of saturation magnetization and coercivity with milling is attributed to a possible shift in the compensation temperature oil grain size reduction and an increase in the orthoferrite content. The Mossbauer spectrum at 16 K is characteristic of the magnetically ordered state corresponding to GdIG, GdFeO3 and alpha-Fe2O3 whereas at room temperature it is a superparamagnetic doublet. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.