AN INVESTIGATION ON THE STRUCTURAL, SPECTRAL AND MAGNETIC PROPERTIES OF NB-ZN DOPED BARIUM STRONTIUM HEXAFERRITE NANOCOMPOSITE POWDER SYNTHESIZED BY SOL-GEL METHOD

Nb-Zn doped Barium Strontium hexaferrite Ba0.5Sr0.5Fe12-2xNbxZnxO19(X=0, 0.05, 0.1, 0.25, 0.5 mol %) nanocomposite powder were synthesized by sol-gel process using D-glucose as a fuel. The prepared samples were calcined at 9500C. TGA/DTA curve shows there is no weight loss above 8500C which confirmed the formation of barium strontium hexaferrite. FTIR spectra exhibit the band in the range of 453? 495cm-1 which revealed the presence of hexagonal ferrite. X-ray diffraction (XRD) confirmed the formation of hexagonal structure with some additional peaks of Fe2O3.The average particle size of the sample is in the range of 39-47 nm. SEM micrographs showed the powder is well crystallized and the particles are hexagonal structure with needle shape and platelet form. EDAX analysis showed the evidence for the presence of Ba, Sr, Fe, Nb and Zn. The VSM measurement revealed that the doping of Nb-Zn ions caused the change in the magnetic properties such as coercivity, saturation magnetization and remanence magnetization. The improving saturation magnetization and remanence magnetization and reducing coercivity were favorable for high density perpendicular magnetic recording applications.