The Zinc-Ferro Ferrite System Revisited

Highly stoichiometric zinc ferrous ferrites ZnxFe3-xO4 were prepared and characterized by magnetization, desaccommodation, electrical conductivity, thermal expansion and magnetostriction measurements. The results of the magnetization measurements indicate that up till x = 0.5 the magnetic structure is collinear, which led to the highest saturation magnetizations ever found in spinel ferrites. The thermal expansion experiments reveal that zinc is located on the tetrahedral sites and the cation distribution is not likely to be temperature dependent. The occurrence of the high saturation magnetization is discussed in relation to ionic and electronic ordering in the compounds Zn0.5Fe2.5O4 and Zn2/3Fe2 1/3O4