Multiple electrical phase transitions in nanocrystalline aluminium-substituted cobalt ferrite

Abstract

Electrical properties of a series of nanocrystalline aluminium-substituted cobalt ferrite CoAl[Formula: see text]Fe[Formula: see text]O4 (CAFO) with x = 0.0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5 have been explored. The electrical parameters have been measured by employing impedance and techniques. The impedance has measured as a function of frequency and temperature for all the samples. The impedance increases with the increase in Al concentration in CAFO. Cobalt ferrite is yet to be verified as a ferroelectric material. However, the electrical properties reported here are similar to conventional ferroelectric materials. Multiple (two) electrical phase transitions have been observed, the two transition temperatures are identified as T[Formula: see text] and T[Formula: see text] i.e., one is dipole relaxation transition (T[Formula: see text]) and other one is electrical phase transition temperature. Both AC and DC measurements indicate the transition temperatures.