Positron annihilation and magnetic properties studies of copper substituted nickel ferrite nanoparticles

Single phase copper substituted nickel ferrite Ni1-xCuxFe2O4Ni1-xCuxFe2O4 (x = 0.0, 0.1, 0.3 and 0.5) nanoparticles were synthesized by the sol–gel method. TEM images of the samples confirm formation of nano-sized particles. The Rietveld refinement of the X-ray diffraction patterns showed that lattice constant increase with increase in copper content from 8.331 for x = 0.0 to 8.355 ÅÅ in x = 0.5. Cation distribution of samples has been determined by the occupancy factor, using Rietveld refinement. The positron lifetime spectra of the samples were convoluted into three lifetime components. The shortest lifetime is due to the positrons that do not get trapped by the vacancy defects. The second lifetime is ascribed to annihilation of positrons in tetrahedral (A) and octahedral (B) sites in spinel structure. It is seen that for x = 0.1 and 0.3 samples, positron trapped within vacancies in A sites, but for x = 0.0 and 0.5, the positrons trapped and annihilated within occupied B sites. The longest lifetime component attributed to annihilation of positrons in the free volume between nanoparticles. The obtained results from coincidence Doppler broadening spectroscopy (CDBS) confirmed the results of positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (PALS) and also showed that the vacancy clusters concentration for x = 0.3 is more than those in other samples. Average defect density in the samples, determined from mean lifetime of annihilated positrons reflects that the vacancy concentration for x = 0.3 is maximum. The magnetic measurements showed that the saturation magnetization for x = 0.3 is maximum that can be explained by Néel’s theory. The coercivity in nanoparticles increased with increase in copper content. This increase is ascribed to the change in anisotropy constant because of increase of the average defect density due to the substitution of Cu2+Cu2+ cations and magnetocrystalline anisotropy of Cu2+Cu2+ cations. Curie temperature of the samples reduces with increase in copper content which can be explained based on Néel’s theory.