The effect of Er doping on local structure of magnetite nanoparticles

In this work Fe 3 O 4 :Er nanoparticles (NPs) with the characteristic size of ~ 11 nm were synthesized via classic co-precipitation method. Electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction were employed to probe the morphology and structure of the samples. Results revealed that samples synthesized in the Fd -3 mZ structure with lattice constant close to that of pure magnetite. 111 In probe generator was incorporated at synthesis in order to map the evolution of hyperfine magnetic field with temperature using time differential perturbed angular correlation (TDPAC) spectroscopy. The TDPAC results are discussed in terms of the effect of Er dopant on the magnetic properties and local structure of the NPs.