Formation and evolution of magnetic nanoparticles in borate glass simultaneously doped with Fe and Mn oxides

Evolution of the phase state of paramagnetic additions at various stages of synthesis and subsequent thermal treatment of glasses of the system Al2O3–K2O–B2O3 simultaneously doped with Fe2O3 and MnO is studied by means of a combination of experimental techniques: Faraday rotation (FR), electron magnetic resonance (EMR), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Mossbauer spectroscopy, and magnetic measurements. Both FR and EMR show that magnetically ordered clusters occur already at the first stage of the glass preparation. In particular, for the ratio of the Fe and Mn oxides in the charge close to 3:2, fine magnetic nanoparticles are formed with characteristics similar to those of manganese ferrite. By computer simulating the EMR spectra at variable temperatures, a superparamagnetic nature of these nanoparticles is confirmed and their mean diameter is estimated as approximately 3.2 nm. In the thermally treated glasses larger magnetic nanoparticles are formed, giving rise to FR spectra, characteristic of ma...