Effect of interparticle interaction on the magnetic relaxation in NiO nanorods

Abstract

Temperature variation (5 K–300 K) of the AC magnetic susceptibilities (χ′ and χ″) at frequency f=0.1, 1, 50, 100, 500, 1000, 2000, 5000, and 10, 000 Hz are reported in 5 nm diameter nanorods of NiO, with and without oleic acid (OA) coating. Using the peak in χ′ as the blocking temperature TB, it is observed that TB increases with increasing f. The data for the two samples fit the Vogel-Fulcher law: f=f0exp[−Ea∕k(TB−T0)], with f0=9.2×1011Hz, Ea∕k=1085 K, and T0=165 K (0 K) for the uncoated (coated) particles. This shows that T0 provides a good measure of the effects of interparticle interactions on magnetic relaxation and that these interactions are essentially eliminated with the OA coating.