• Correlation between structural, magnetic, and dielectric properties of manganese substituted cobalt ferrite

Manganese (Mn) substituted cobalt ferrites (CoFe_2−xMn_xO₄, referred to CFMO) were synthesized and their structural, magnetic, and dielectric properties were evaluated. X-ray diffraction measurements coupled with Rietveld refinement indicate that the CFMO materials crystallize in the inverse cubic spinel phase. Temperature (T = 300 K and 10 K) dependent magnetization (M(H)) measurements indicate the long range ferromagnetic ordering in CoFe_2−xMn_xO₄ (x = 0.00–0.15) ferrites. The cubic anisotropy constant (K₁(T)) and saturation magnetization (M_s(T)) were derived by using the “law of approach” to saturation that describes the field dependence of M(H) for magnetic fields much higher than the coercive field (H_c). Saturation magnetization (M_s), obtained from the model, decreases with increasing temperature. For CoFe₂O₄, M_s decreases from 3.63 μ_B per formula unit (f.u.) to 3.47 μ_B/f.u. with increasing temperature from 10 to 300 K. CFMO (0.00–0.15) exhibit the similar trend while the magnitude of M_s is dependent on Mn-concentration. M_s-T functional relationship obeys the Bloch's law. The lattice parameter and magnetic moment calculated for CFMO reveals that Mn ions occupying the Fe and Co position at the octahedral site in the inverse cubic spinel phase. The structure and magnetism in CFMO are further corroborated by bond length and bond angle calculations. The dielectric constant dispersion of CFMO in the frequency range of 20 Hz–1 MHz fits to the modified Debye's function with more than one ion contributing to the relaxation. The relaxation time and spread factor derived from modeling the experimental data are ∼10⁻⁴ s and ∼0.35(±0.05), respectively.