Irregular distribution of metal ions in ferrites prepared by co-precipitation technique structure analysis of Mn-Zn ferrite using extended X-ray absorption fine structure

The tetrahedral/octahedral site occupancy of non-magnetic zinc ion, added t o maximize the net magnetic moment of mixed ferrites has been found to depe nd on the method of preparation. In this paper. we qualitatively analyze th e metal ion distribution in Mn-Zn ferrite particles prepared by co-precipit ation and ceramic methods using extended X-ray absorption fine structure (E XAFS) technique. The results suggest that the differences observed in the m agnetic properties of the samples prepared by different methods are not onl y due to the difference in particle size but also due to the difference in cation distribution. The difference in cation distributions between ferrite s of similar composition prepared differently has been found to depend on t he crystal field stability energies of the metal ion of interest and associ ated cations. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.