Investigation of cobalt substituted M-type barium ferrite synthesized via co-precipitation method for radar absorbing material in Ku-band (12-18 GHz)

In present work, cobalt substituted M-type barium nanoferrite of composition BaCoxFe12 - xO19 with x = 0.4, 0.8 and 1.0 were prepared via a co-precipitation method. After appropriate heat treatments the samples were characterized by X-ray Diffractometer (XRD), Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Raman Spectroscopy (RS) and Vector Network Analyzer (VNA). XRD confirmed the formation of pure single phase M-type barium ferrite with an average crystallite size in the range 65-85 nm. FESEM confirmed the formation of hexagonal platelets with an average grain size of in the range 250-325 nm. Vibrational bands at 466 cm(-1) and 580 cm(-1) confirmed the strong Me-O bond. Raman vibrational modes at 329 cm and 676 cm(-1) confirmed both, the strong Me-O bond and M-type barium ferrite formation. Electromagnetic properties were studied by measuring real part and imaginary part of permittivity and permeability in the frequency range of 12-18 GHz (Ku band). The maximum reflection loss of - 45 dB was found to be at x = 1.0 which makes this composition a suitable candidate for Radar Absorbing Material (RAM) in Ku band.