Effect of indium addition on the structure and magnetic properties of YIG

In this work we report the structure and magnetic properties of a series of single-phase indium-substituted yttrium iron garnet (In-YIG) nanoparticles with nominal composition of Y3InxFe5-xO12 (x=0.1, 0.2, 0.3 and 0.4) prepared by conventional mixed oxide route. Based on XRD results, the lattice parameters of the samples increased with increase in In3+ content due to its larger ionic radius. Mossbauer results confirmed the substitution of In3+ for Fe3+ in [a] site of YIG structure. Further, the magnitudes of the magnetic hyperfine field (MHF) were seen to reduce due to indium substitution. Moreover, a rising trend was observed for saturation magnetization (M-S) of the samples with x>0.2 owing to the substitution of non-magnetic In3+ for Fe3+. However, the observed initial drop of M-S for the sample with x=0.2 compared to that with x=0.1 is possibly attributed to the dominance of spin canting over the net magnetization rise caused by In3+ in [a] sites. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.