The enhancement of the Ce-solubility limit and saturation magnetization in the Ce0.25BixPryY2.75-x-yFe5O12 garnet synthesized by the conventional ceramic method

Abstract This paper has focused on the structural and magnetic properties of Ce0.25BixPryY2.75-x-yFe5O12(x = 0.15, 0.20, 0.25) and (y = 0.25, 0.5) prepared by the solid-state method. The structural and microstructural evaluations were carried out by the X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Raman Spectroscopy (RS) and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Furthermore, the magnetic properties were studied through a vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). As it can be obtained from the XRD patterns, a single garnet phase with high purity has been formed in all samples in the sintering condition. Also, the FTIR analysis confirmed the formation of the garnet phase and related inorganic bonding. Raman spectroscopy reveals the dominant garnet phase with good incorporation of the Bi, Pr and Ce dopants into the garnet structure. XPS confirmed the presence of Ce4+ and also its value was measured from the peak areas. The results showed that the amount of Ce4+ in all the samples is lower than 10%. According to the results, by increasing the Bi content from x = 0.15 up to x = 0.25, saturation magnetization (Ms) increased from 29.31 to 37.79 emu/g, and by enhancing the Pr concentration from x = 0.25 to x = 0.5, this magnetic characteristic enhanced from 29.31 to 33.16 emu/g. Furthermore, the Ce-solubility limit was enhanced from x = 0.2 to x = 0.25 by the charge compensation mechanism. An increase in the Ce-solubility limit and also the saturation magnetization led to an enhancement in the magneto-optical and magnetic properties of YIG for telecommunication applications and memory storages, respectively.