Low temperature ferromagnetism, surface paramagnetism and exchange bias effect in nano-grained alpha-Fe1.4Ga0.6O3 oxide

Abstract

The compound alpha-Fe1.4Ga0.6O3 has been prepared by mechanical alloying of alpha-Fe2O3 and Ga2O3 and subsequent heating of the mechanical alloyed samples in vacuum condition. Magnetic ordering of alpha-Fe2O3 has been modified by substitution of non-magnetic Ga atoms. The ferromagnetism in alpha-Fe1.4Ga0.6O3 is more soft and enhanced in comparison to alpha-Fe2O3. M\"ossbauer spectroscopy also confirmed enhanced ferromagnetic order in alpha-Fe1.4Ga0.6O3. The room temperature soft ferromagnetism by Ga substitution is interesting for designing alpha-Fe2O3 based unconventional ferromagnet, which is a great challenge to the materials scientists. The alpha-Fe1.4Ga0.6O3 samples also exhibited features of exchange bias, low temperature surface paramagnetism, and suppression of Morin transition. These features have been affected up to certain extent by the nano-sized grains of the samples.