On the structure–property relationships of (Al, Ga, In)-doped spinel cobalt ferrite compounds: a combined experimental and DFT study
M. Naveed-Ul-Haq, Shahzad Hussain, Samira Webers, Soma Salamon, Ibtisam Ahmad, Tayyaba Bibi, Amna Hameed, Heiko Wende
Abstract
ions at the tetrahedral sites of the spinel give an enhanced magnetic moment. The magnetic moment values obtained from theoretical calculations match very well with the experimental values. Moreover, the theoretical calculations reveal that there exists a strong p-d hybridization among the oxygen and magnetic ions, which is affected by the non-magnetic dopant ions. The change in hybridization with the non-magnetic ion doping is responsible for the altered magnetic moments of the doped ferrites. Thus, our study provides a comprehensive investigation covering the synthesis and characterization of ferrites along with a good understanding of the phenomenon of how non-magnetic ion doping into spinel ferrites provides a method to tune the electronic and magnetic properties of the spinel ferrite.