Structural, magnetic and dielectric properties of the novel magnetic spinel compounds ZnCoSnO4 and ZnCoTiO4

The transparent semiconductor Zn2SnO4 with cubic spinel structure and the isostructural Zn2TiO4 have been magnetically doped with Co2+. ZnCoSnO4 and ZnCoTiO4 exhibit ferrimagnetism below TN ≈ 13 K and TN ≈ 17 K. Ferrimagnetic moments are evident in M vs H curves below TN by small hysteresis. Fits to strictly linear Curie-Weiss plots above TN give μeff ≈ 4.86 μB and ≈4.91 μB for ZnCoSnO4 and ZnCoTiO4, above theoretical predictions. Impedance spectroscopy data from sintered ceramic can be fitted with a standard equivalent circuit model based on two RC elements for bulk and GB areas. The relative dielectric permittivity of the bulk is ≈20 and ≈30 for Zn2SnO4 and Zn2TiO4. The semiconducting ZnCoSnO4 and ZnCoTiO4ceramics exhibit bulk resistivity of ≈1 106 Ω cm and ≈1 105 Ω cm at 560 K (287 °C), and bulk activation energies of EA ≈ 1.2 eV and 1.1 eV.