Magnetic Properties of Sm³⁺ Doped Zinc Phosphate Glass Containing Nickel Oxide Nanoparticles

Abstract

Nickel nanoparticles are incorporated in Sm3+ doped zinc phosphate glass having a composition of 40ZnO-(58-x)P2O5-1Sm2O3-xNiO, with x = 0.0 and 2.0 mol% prepared by melt quenching technique. Sample characterizations are made by means of X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). X-ray diffraction shows that the glass is in amorphous state. The transmission electron microscopic (TEM) image reveals the existence of Nickel nanoparticles having a particles size in the range of 5.5 – 21.8 nm. The magnetization M(H) curve reveals that the glass displays an anomalous hysteresis behavior at room temperature. It is observed that the initial curve of magnetization lies positively as a function of magnetic field under 1000 H (O.e).