Journal of Advanced Materials in Engineering (Esteghlal)

In this paper, milling was investigated as a method for production of Mn-Ga binary alloys and the effect of milling process on phase formation of Mn:Ga samples with 2:1 and 3:1 ratio within 1, 2 and 5 hour milling times was studied. For Mn:Ga samples, according to the results, Mn_1.86Ga compound with tetragonal structure and I4/mmm space group was a stable phase. Also, some amounts of  Mn₃Ga compound with orthorhombic structure and Cmca space group was observed in the Mn:Ga solution. The effect of Ge addition, with the purpose of  replacing Ge with Ga was also studied in Mn:Ga:Ge (3:0.5:0.5) sample. Although improved magnetic properties is expected with the addition of Ge, but increasing the coercivity was occurred, and saturation magnetization did not change significantly in the studied sample. Ge addition caused elimination of the possibility of formation of asymmetric orthorhombic Mn₃Ga phase. In return, two new structures of Mn₁₁Ge₈ and MnGaGe were appeared. This phase change was confirmed by studying magnetic behaviour of samples. This behavior can be caused by unbalanced electrostatic forces resulting from Mn-Mn exchange interaction in Mn₃Ga orthorhombic structure and substitution of some Ge atoms with Ga.

In this paper, the phase formation process of Mn_2.5Ge samples, prepared by mechanical alloying of Mn and Ge metal powders and annealing, has been studied. Results showed that in the milled samples the stable phase is Mn₁₁Ge₈ compound with orthorhombic structure and Pnam space group. The value of saturation magnetization increases by increasing milling time from 0.2 up to 1.95 (Am²Kg^-1). The remanece of the samples increases by increasing the milling time while the coercivity decreases. Annealing of 15-hour milled sample results in disappearance of Mn and Ge and the formation of new phases of Mn₃Ge, Mn₅Ge₂, Mn₅Ge₃ and Mn_2.3Ge. Mn₃Ge is the main phase with Do₂₂ tetragonal structure and I4/mmm space group which is stable and dominant. The enhancement of saturation magnetization in the annealed sample is related to the formation of three new magnetic phases and the increase of coercivity is due to the presence of Mn₃Ge compound with tetragonal structure. Studies were replicated on samples made by arc melting method to compare the results and to investigate the effect of the preparation method on phase formation and structural and magnetic properties of the materials. In these samples the saturation value was in range of 0.2 up to 1.95 (Am²Kg^-1) depending on preparation methods. Rietveld refinement shows that Mn_2.3Ge sample prepared from arc melted under 620^oC anealing is single phase. Magnetic analysis of this sample show a saturation magnetization of 5.252(Am²Kg^-1) and 0.005 T coercive field.

In this work, cobalt ferrite nanocrystallites were synthesized by air annealing of milled Co-Fe compound. Effect of annealing temperature on phase formation of cobalt ferrite and structural and magnetic properties of the product was studied. Analysis of annealed sample in 450 ^oC showed that around 46 weight percent of the specimen was changed to Co₂FeO₄. This value increased to 95 and 90% for 800 ^oC and 900 ^oC annealed samples respectively. Reduction of saturation magnetization under annealing was related to transformation of Co-Fe to cobalt ferrite. Increasing the value of saturation magnetization in 900 ^oC annealed sample compared to 800 ^oC one was attributed to decreased surface to volume ratio and crystallite size. The main reason of occurrence of maximum coercivity in 800  ^oC annealed sample was its low crystallite size.