Publication Date:
2015-03-25
Description:
We have examined the effects of core-shell intermixing on the dynamical magnetism of γ -Fe 2 O 3 /MnO nanoparticles. The core and shell phases were identified using x-ray diffraction, and x-ray absorption spectroscopy identified Mn ions in both octahedral and tetrahedral sites, consistent with a significant amount of substitution at the core-shell interface to form an Fe/Mn-ferrite. The dynamical response was probed by Mössbauer spectroscopy, which decouples surface and core spins, and suggested a change in the relaxation behaviour among the spin populations within γ -Fe 2 O 3 /MnO relative to the γ -Fe 2 O 3 seed particles. Interestingly, the magnetic relaxation effects at the atomic scale, measured via Mössbauer spectroscopy, were enhanced, indicating that the addition of an MnO shell and intermixing affected the dynamical freezing process which altered the surface magnetism of the γ -Fe 2 O 3 core. Our results show that both the MnO shell and the interfacial intermixed layer are important in determining the core-shell nanoparticle magnetism.
Print ISSN:
0021-8979
Electronic ISSN:
1089-7550
Topics:
Physics
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