Low temperature magnetization and anomalous high temperature dielectric behaviour of (1-x) YMnO3/xZnFe2O4 composites

Abstract We synthesized YMnO 3 and ZnFe 2 O 4 composites, (1-x)YMnO 3 /x(ZnFe 2 O 4 ) with x = 0, 0.05, 0.10, and 0.15 by high temperature sintering. X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns indicate the successful formation of composites. Weak ferromagnetism is manifested below Neel temperature (T N ) for pristine YMnO 3 , according to (M-H) study performed at 10 K. For (1-x)YMnO 3 /xZnFe 2 O 4 (x = 0.05, 0.10, 0.15) a thin coercivity is observed in all compositions, due to short range magnetic ordering at low temperature after the insertion of ZnFe 2 O 4 . For pristine YMnO 3 explicit divarication between FC-ZFC curves is observed, with crimps observed in both FC and ZFC curves at 75 K, which is the T N of YMnO 3 . For 1-x(YMnO 3 )/x ZnFe 2 O 4 composites (x = 0.05, 0.10, 0.15) crimps are perceived only in ZFC curves at slightly varying values of 39.8, 42.32 and 45.63 K respectively. Anomalous peaks are observed in high temperature dielectric curves above 400 K for 1-x(YMnO 3 )/xZnFe 2 O 4 (x = 0, 0.05, 0.10, 0.15) composites due to Maxwell-Wagner relaxation effect.