Structural, magnetic and electrical study of nano-structured α-Fe1.4Ti0.6O3

Nano-structured α-Fe1.4Ti0.6O3 has been synthesized using a simple technique of mechanical alloying. Doping of Ti atoms into α-Fe2O3 structure has been characterized by XRD, SEM-EDX, FTIR, VSM and impedance spectroscopy. Magnetic and electrical studies have revealed important changes at the interfaces of grains and grain boundaries, and at rhombohedral planes during formation of α-Fe1.4Ti0.6O3 alloy. The alloy has shown the properties of ferromagnetic semiconductor with substantial increase of magnetic moment and electrical conductivity with the decrease of grain size. The 100 h milled sample has been air annealed to study the effects of thermal activated grain size, lattice structure, magnetism and electrical properties. This work has demonstrated some recent issues of the synthesis of ferromagnetic semiconductor, e.g., structural phase stability, grain size effects, magnetic ordering and electrical conductivity at different stages of the mechanical alloying and subsequent annealing at 700 °C.

► Room temperature mechanical alloying was applied to synthesize α-Fe1.4Ti0.6O3.
► Experimental results confirmed the doping of Ti atoms into the lattices of α-Fe2O3.
► The results are interesting to understand non-traditional magnetic semiconductor.
► This work highlighted the enhanced ferromagnetism and electrical conductivity.