Fabrication and properties of magnetic particles with nanometer dimensions

Novel nanocrystalline inorganic materials ranging from metals to ternary metal oxides and fluorides have been synthesized in aqueous solutions with restricted environment of reverse micelles. This technique allowed also sequential synthesis leading to a core-shell type structure. Methods of synthesis of nanoparticles of magnetic metals Fe, Co and alloys FePtX and CoPtX coated with gold, metal ferrites MFe2O4 (M = Mn, Fe and Co) and antiferromagnetic fluoromanganites NaMnF3 and KMnF3 have been developed. The synthesized materials were characterized using X-ray diffractometry, TEM microscopy with EDAX analysis and SQUID magnetometry. Novel physical properties of these materials are discussed with emphasis given to the differences between course and fine-grained magnetic materials. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.