Enhanced microwave absorption property of rare earth Sm-La co-doped barium ferrite ceramics

Doping of rare earth elements to modulate the microwave absorption properties of materials remains a challenge, especially using the strategy of two-element substitution. In this paper, the rare earth elements of Sm³+-La³+ co-doped barium ferrite Ba(SmLa)xFe12-2xO19(x = 0, 0.5, 1, denoted as BFSLO-x) ceramics were the compounds which were planed to use sol-gel method. The synthesized BFSLO-x materials were of typical single hexagonal phase and sheet nanostructure with the tolerably particle sizes based on the XRD and SEM measurement. With the increase of x, the values of Ms and Mr decrease, while the values of He elevate. The use of rare earth elements causes the arisen of super-exchange, which was the reason for the weakening of saturation magnetization and the decrease of remnant magnetization. Electromagnetic parameters of the sample could be well adjusted by rare earth element doping, and the performance of microwave absorption could also be enhanced. The maximum reflection loss of BFSLO-1.0 sample could reach -21.6 dB at 14.90 GHz with an effective absorption bandwidth of 2.48 GHz. The results provide a viable option for the study of high-performance microwave absorbing materials through rare earth doping strategies.