Room temperature magento-electric coupling in Pb–Zn substituted Co₂Y-hexaferrite

Polycrystalline Y-type hexagonal ferrite sample with composition Ba_2−xPb_xCo_1.5Zn_0.5Fe₁₂O₂₂ (0 < x < 0.4) have been prepared via sol–gel auto-combustion method with citric acid as a chelating agent. The synthesized samples were characterized by x-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), vibrating sample magnetometry, and P–E loop tracer. Single-phase of Y-type hexaferrite has been confirmed by XRD. The crystalline nature with hexagonal platelet-like morphology was confirmed by structural and morphological analysis. The dielectric constant (ε′) increases with Pb concentration and maximum dispersion is obtained for x = 0.3 sample. The power law dependence of ac conductivity with exponent (n) value about 0.229 to 0.285, suggests the conduction mechanism via polaron hooping. P–E loop analysis demonstrated the increase in remnant polarization, saturation polarization value with increase of Pb (up to x = 0.2) and shows a decreasing trend for higher Pb content. M–H curves reveal the soft magnetic behavior of the prepared samples. The coercivity (H_c) increases with an increase of Pb content and x = 0.3 sample exhibits the maximum value of coercivity of about ~ 107 Oe. The room temperature magnetoelectric coupling is evidenced with a second-order coupling coefficient (β) of 4.3 × 10⁻⁶ μV/cm-Oe² for x = 0.3 sample, which endorses this material as a potential candidate for multistate memory devices.