Journal of the American Ceramic Society, Vol.101, No.12, 5571-5577, 2018
Magnetization reversal induced by Mn substitution in spinel chromite NiCr2O4
Polycrystalline Ni(Cr1-xMnx)(2)O-4 (0.1 <= x <= 0.325) ceramic samples were studied through different protocols of dc magnetization measurements. The samples exhibit 2 kinds of magnetic compensation effects below the ferrimagnetic transition temperature T-C. Remarkable magnetization reversal is observed between the 2 compensation temperatures T-comp1 and T-comp2, which is regarded as arising from the negative exchange coupling between the 2 magnetic sublattices at different crystallographic sites. The magnetization is reversed at T-SR due to spin-reorientation caused by magnetostructural coupling. The spin-reorientation is supported by Mn substitution and T-SR is increased to 96 K when x reaches 0.325. However, it is suppressed due to the strong ionic site preference and thus the magnetization is slightly increased in the negative direction of the magnetic field. Near the 2 compensation temperatures, tunable magnetic switching effects can be obtained just by changing the magnitude of the applied magnetic field. Moreover, both normal and inverse magnetocaloric effects were also demonstrated.
Keywords:magnetization reversal;magnetocaloric effect;site preference;spinel chromite;switching effect