Synthesis, Spectral, and Magnetic Studies of Yb-Doped CoFe₂O₄

Rare Earth modification effects the crystal structure and magnetic behavior in ferrites because of the role of unpaired valence electrons of f-orbital. In this work, the Co-ferrite was modified by substituting Yb3+ at Fe3+ ions to report the structural and magnetic correlations. The rare earth-doped cobalt ferrites of the compositions CoFe2-xYbxO4 (x = 0 to 0.02) were synthesized by the solid-state reaction method. The structural studies were carried out by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) also by Raman, and Fourier transforms infrared (FTIR) spectroscopic techniques. The optical and magnetic properties are studied by UV-visible spectroscopy and magnetic isotherm loops at 300 K respectively. The x = 0.005 substitution is observed to have distinct properties compared to other compositions. There is a vast change in band gap as well as magnetization for x = 0.005. Further, the x = 0.01, 0.015, and 0.02 samples seem to have similar behavior but there is considerable variation compared to pure Co-ferrite. The small additions of rare-earth elements may create high anisotropy to appear the large change in the structural and magnetic properties.