Tunable annealing temperature for the structural, magnetic, optical, and dielectric characteristics of Mn0.5Zn0.5Ni0.5Fe1.5O4 nano-ferrite

Abstract

The as-prepared Mn_0.5Zn_0.5Ni_0.5Fe_1.5O₄ ferrite was prepared by the co-precipitation process and annealed at 300, 500, 900, and 1100 °C. The single-phase cubic spinel structure was confirmed by XRD patterns, Rietveld fitting, TEM imaging and several structural parameters, including crystalline size and lattice constant have been examined. The FTIR spectrum confirmed the main two absorption bands of tetrahedral and octahedral sites in ferrite, where the elastic parameters such as force constants and Debye temperature have been investigated. The saturation magnetization increases with the annealing temperature, while the energy band gap decreases with the annealing temperature, and also the ac conductivity decreases with annealing temperature.