Effect of specific surface area of raw material Fe2O3 on magnetic properties of YIG

The effect of specific surface area (SSA) of Fe2O3 was investigated while evaluating the raw material of Y3Fe5O12 (yttrium iron garnet (YIG)) preparation. For YIG ferrite, the specific surface area of Fe2O3, rather than average particle size (D50), was found to markedly affect the mixing homogeneity of powders in the mixing procedure and the magnetic properties. Increasing the specific surface area of Fe2O3 resulted in the increase of the remanence (Br) and squareness ratio (SQR); meanwhile, it also caused an obvious reduction in coercivity (HC) for the sintered specimens. An upgrade in the specific surface area of raw material Fe2O3 could further resulted in a decrease in slurry viscosity in the mixing procedure, which promotes slurry mixing homogeneity and further promotes reactivity in the calcination and sintering processes. Consequently, a larger Br and SQR and a smaller HC were obtained. In addition, good ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) line width (i.e., ΔH) properties were also realized as 36.7 Oe at 3.2 GHz using the selected Fe2O3. As found in this study, the strict control of raw material Fe2O3 is critical in tailoring suitable Br and HC for the YIG ferrite manufacturing process.