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Title: A study of ferromagnetic signals in SrTiO{sub 3} nanoparticles

Journal Article · · AIP Conference Proceedings
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4870201· OSTI ID:22265950
; ;  [1]
  1. Dept. of Physics, Brock University, St. Catharines, ON, L2S 3A1 (Canada)

It has been suggested that ferromagnetism may be a universal feature of nanoparticles related to particle size. We study this claim for the case of commercially produced SrTiO{sub 3} nanoparticles purchased from Alfa-Aesar. Both loosely-packed nanoparticle samples and pellets formed using uniaxial pressure were studied. Both loose and pressed samples were annealed in either air or in vacuum of 5×10{sup −6} Torr at 600, 800 and 1000°C. Then x-ray diffraction and SQUID measurements were made on the resulting samples. It was found that annealed loose powder samples always had a linear diamagnetic magnetization versus field response, while their pressed pellet counterparts exhibit a ferromagnetic hysteresis component in addition to the linear diamagnetic signal. Williamson-Hall analysis reveals that the particle size in pressed pellet samples increases with annealing temperature but does not change significantly in loose powder samples. The main conclusion is that the act of pressing pellets in a die introduces a spurious ferromagnetic signal into SQUID measurements.

OSTI ID:
22265950
Journal Information:
AIP Conference Proceedings, Vol. 1590, Issue 1; Conference: International conference on electronic, photonic, plasmonic and magnetic properties of nanomaterials, London (Canada), 12-16 Aug 2013; Other Information: (c) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0094-243X
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English