CO-precipitation synthesis of iron-containing garnets Y3Al5−xFexO12 and their magnetic properties

Iron-containing garnets Y3Al5−xFexO12 (YAIG) nano-powders with a size range of approximately 50 nm were prepared by the co-precipitation technique. The composition, the phase formation process and the magnetic properties of YAIG powders were investigated by means of XRD, DTA/TG, TEM and SQUID. The saturation magnetization of YAIG was nearly zero when x≤2, but it exhibited a linearly increasing tendency from 6.2 to 30.5 emu/g when x>2. These results are attributed to the selective arrangement of the cation distribution.