Size dependence of non-magnetic thickness in YIG nanoparticles

This study is focused on particle size dependence of structural and magnetic properties in yttrium iron garnet (Y3Fe5O12) nanoparticles. A series of YIG samples with different particle size were produced by varying the annealing temperatures. The X-ray analysis revealed an inverse correlation between lattice parameter and the crystallite size. The normal distribution is used for fitting the particles size distribution which is extracted from scanning electron micrographs. Also, by using the results of vibrating sample magnetometer, the magnetic diameter was calculated based on Langevin model in order to investigate the variation of dead layer thickness. Furthermore, the observed line broadening in Mossbauer spectra confirmed the increase of non-magnetic thickness due to the reduction of particle size. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.