Superparamagnetic relaxation and magnetic anisotropy energy distribution in CoFe₂O₄ spinel ferrite nanocrystallites

Superparamagnetism is a unique feature of magnetic nanoparticles. Spinel ferrite nanoparticles provide great opportunities for studying the mechanism of superparamagnetic properties. CoFe₂O₄ nanocrystallites have been synthesized with a microemulsion method. The neutron diffraction studies and the temperature-dependent decay of magnetization show the superparamagnetic relaxation occurring in these nanoparticles. The neutron diffraction shows a high degree of inversion with the 78% tetrahedral sites occupied by Fe³⁺ cations. The nanoparticles with a 12 nm diameter have a blocking temperature around 320 K. The field-cooled and zero-field-cooled magnetization measurements display a divergence below the blocking temperature. The energy barrier distribution of magnetic anisotropy is derived from the temperature-dependent decay of magnetization. The magnetic anisotropy is clearly the origin of the divergence in the field-cooled and zero-field-cooled magnetization measurements. The energy barrier distribution function is used in a computer simulation of the zero-field-cooled magnetization, and the calculated magnetization has a great consistency with experimentally measured values. These studies on the magnetic anisotropy distribution elucidate the mechanism of superparamagnetic relaxation and facilitate the design and control of superparamagnetic properties in nanoparticles.