Magnetic and Morphological Properties of Nanophase Metallic Particles of Fe, Co, and Ni

Abstract

ABSTRACTA vapor deposition technique has been used to prepare nano-size particles of Fe, Co and Ni using argon gas. The particles were passivated from further oxidation using a small volume of air. The range of particle size obtained in these systems was 47–200 Å. The saturation magnetization of Fe particles varied between 25–200 emu/g with the higher values corresponding to larger particles and the highest coercivity achieved at room temperature was 1050 Oe. In the case of Co and Ni, the magnetization varied in the range 35–100 emu/g and 14–45 emu/g, respectively. The highest room temperature coercivity was 1200 and 41 Oe for Co and Ni, respectively. A shell-type structure consisting of a metallic core surrounded by an oxide shell has been proposed for the particles.