Influence of Sm-substitution on structure and electromagnetic properties of Ba3−xSmxCo2Fe24O41 powders

Sm-substituted barium hexaferrites, Ba3−xSmxCo2Fe24O41 (x=0-0.25), were prepared by a conventional ceramic sintering method. The microstructure, complex permittivity, complex permeability and static magnetic properties of the samples were studied using powder X-ray diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscopy, vector network analyzer and vibrating sample magnetometry. The results reveal that by introducing a relatively small amount of Sm3+ instead of Ba2+ an important modification of both structure and high-frequency electromagnetic properties can be obtained. Doping of Sm3+ suppressed the grain growth and gave rise to a decrease of the grain size. As the Sm content increases, the static magnetic properties continuously increase. The real part and imaginary part of complex permittivity initially increase with Sm content, and then decreases when x>0.10. The imaginary part of complex permeability decreases after Sm3+ is doped. There is no obvious change in the real part of the complex permeability for different Sm contents. The reasons are discussed using electromagnetic theory.