Investigation of physical and magnetic properties of chrome added CuFeO2 material synthesized by sol-gel method

In this study, CuFeO2 and its Cr substituted derivatives (CuFe1-xCrxO2) (x = 0.0, 0.01, 0.02, 0.05, 0.1, 0.2), known as antiferromagnetic material and having application area in spintronic technology, were synthesized by sol-gel method and their electronic and magnetic properties were investigated. Electronic and magnetic properties of the synthesized samples were investigated by substituting Cr in certain ratios instead of iron atoms in CuFeO2 material and controlling oxygen atoms. Structural characterization of the samples was carried out using X-ray techniques (XRD and XAFS) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) measurements. Magnetic properties were determined by M-T, M-H measurements and AC susceptibility measurements. Crystal and electronic properties of CuFeO2 were investigated by using synchrotron XRD and XAFS at room temperature, while magnetic behavior was investigated under applied fields between 10 and 300 K. It was observed that chromium substitution decreased coercivity and retentivity but increased saturation magnetization at higher chromium concentrations. Key Words: Delafossite, synchrotron, crystal structure, XAFS, M-T, M-H