Effect of sintering temperature on structural, magnetic, dielectric and optical properties of Ni–Mn–Zn ferrites

Spinel ferrite Ni[Formula: see text]Mn[Formula: see text]Zn[Formula: see text]Fe2O4 was prepared by a conventional ceramic process followed by sintering at three different temperatures (1050[Formula: see text]C, 1100[Formula: see text]C and 1150[Formula: see text]C). X-ray diffraction (XRD) investigations stated the single-phase cubic spinel structure and the FTIR spectra revealed two prominent bands within the wavenumber region from 600 cm[Formula: see text] to 400 cm[Formula: see text]. Surface morphology showed highly crystalline grain development with sizes ranging from 0.27 [Formula: see text]m to 0.88 [Formula: see text]m. The magnetic hysteresis curve at ambient temperature revealed a significant effect of sintering temperature on both coercivity ([Formula: see text] and saturation magnetization ([Formula: see text]. Temperature caused a decrease in DC electrical resistivity, while the electron transport increased, suggesting the semiconducting nature of all samples and that they well followed the Arrhenius law from which their activation energies were determined. The values of Curie temperature ([Formula: see text] and activation energy were influenced by the sintering temperature. Frequency-dependent dielectric behavior (100 Hz–1 MHz) was also analyzed, which may be interpreted by the Maxwell–Wagner-type polarization. The UV–vis–NIR reflectance curve was analyzed to calculate the bandgap of ferrites, which showed a decreasing trend with increasing sintering temperature.

MIL-88B (Fe) driven Fe/Fe3C encapsulated in high-crystalline carbon for high-efficient microwave absorption and electromagnetic interference shielding

Dual-functional magnetic/dielectric Fe/Fe3C@C composites were fabricated by pyrolysis of MIL-88B (Fe) in Ar atmosphere, which was used for microwave absorption and electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding. The Fe/Fe3C nanocrystals were completely encapsulated in crystalline carbon, which can improve the oxidation resistance capacity. Owing to the remarkable impedance matching and strong attenuation constants, Fe/Fe3C@C composites show an optimal RL value of -56.4 dB at 14.0 GHz and broad effective absorption bandwidth (RL ≤ -10 dB) of 4.8 GHz, when the filling ratio and absorber thickness are only 20 wt% and 1.9 mm, respectively. Resulted from the high conductivity of crystalline carbon, magnetic loss of Fe/Fe3C and core-shell structure, the Fe/Fe3C@C composites also show remarkable EMI shielding properties at X band, which are enhanced by increasing the filling ratio of Fe/Fe3C@C composites. When the filling ratio was 50 wt%, the EMI shielding efficiency can reach 35 dB. This work suggests that the magnetic/dielectric Fe/Fe3C@C is a good cadidate in microwave absorption and electromagnetic interference shielding.

Theoretical Study on Metasurfaces for Transverse Magneto-Optical Kerr Effect Enhancement of Ultra-Thin Magnetic Dielectric Films

We study how to enhance the transverse magneto-optical Kerr effect (TMOKE) of ultra-thin magnetic dielectric films through the excitation of strong magnetic resonances on metasurface with a metal nanowire array stacked above a metal substrate with an ultra-thin magnetic dielectric film spacer. The plasmonic hybridizations between the Au nanowires and substrate result in magnetic resonances. The periodic arrangement of the Au nanowires can excite propagating surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) on the metal surface. When the SPPs and the magnetic resonances hybridize, they can strongly couple to form two strong magnetic resonances, which are explained by a coupled oscillator model. Importantly, benefitting from the strong magnetic resonances, we can achieve a large TMOKE signal up to 26% in the ultra-thin magnetic dielectric film with a thickness of only 30 nm, which may find potential applications in nanophotonics, magnonics, and spintronics.