Magnetic study of nanostructured zinc ferrite irradiated with 100 MeV O-beam

Nanostructured zinc ferrite of particle size 10 nm was synthesized by using the nitrates of appropriate cations and citric acid. This system was irradiated by 100 MeV oxygen beam with the fluence of 5×1013 ions/cm2. The particle size of the system remains almost same after the irradiation. We observe decrease in magnetization of the sample after irradiation at 300 and 10 K. The nature of the σ–H plot shows the presence of superparamgnetic domains at 300 K even after irradiation. The blocking temperature decreases from 276 to 63 K after irradiation. The Mössbauer spectroscopy supports the presence of superparamgnetic domains at 300 K in both the samples. The decrease in magnetization after irradiation is attributed to the decrease in cation inversion and increase in canting angle as observed from in-field Mössbauer spectroscopy.