Temperature dependence of magnetic properties of heat treated cobalt ferrite

This study demonstrates the effectiveness of heat treatment in optimizing the magnetic properties of cobalt ferrite, compared to other methods such as cation substitution. It also shows how the magnetic properties of the heat treated cobalt ferrite vary under different temperature conditions. Saturation magnetization increased more due to heat treatment than due to Zn-substitution; a cation substitution that is known to result in high saturation magnetization in ferrites. A remarkable observation is that the increase in the saturation magnetization due to heat treatment was not at the expense of Curie temperature as was often reported for cation substituted materials. The observed variations in the magnetic properties were explained on the basis of cation redistribution arising as a result of the heat treatment.