LOCAL FIELD FLUCTUATIONS IN THE MIXED SPINEL FERRITE, Ni1-xZnxFe2O4

Abstract

The magnetic properties of the mixed spinel ferrites Ni1-xZnxFe2O4 are studied with the framework of a mean field approach which takes into account the effects of random arrangements of the Zn and Fe ions in the A-sublattice and of the Ni and Fe ions in the B-sublattice. We are interested in the local field fluctuations which arise from these random arrangements. It is found that the predicted increase in the local field fluctuations as the Zn content in Ni1-xZnxFe2O4 decreases from x=0.9 down to 0.5 correlates with the observed increase in the broadening of the linewidth Γ A in the A-site sextets in the Mossbauer absorption spectrums accompanying the same changes in the zinc content.