Lattice and vibrational features of the semiconductor-to-metal crossover in Ru/ Re-doped barium hexaferrite
Phys. Rev. Materials 10, 104601 – Published 13 October, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/r78b-hw9z
Abstract
We investigate the relation between lattice, vibrational, and electrical changes in Ru/ Re-doped M-type barium hexaferrite, . Temperature-dependent x-ray diffraction shows only a few weak extra reflections associated with the minor phase, with no temperature-induced change in the BaM crystal structure. However, the lattice parameters and unit-cell volume change their thermal-expansion behavior between 390 and 420 K. Raman spectroscopy shows a complementary local response, with two selected Fe-O modes, assigned to mixed octahedral vibrations and bipyramidal vibrations, displaying shallow nonmonotonic shifts near 380–400 K. At higher temperatures, the electrical measurements reveal a systematic change in charge dynamics. The phase map obtained from the loss tangent changes from a capacitivelike response toward a stronger resistive contribution, while the real part of the ac conductivity, , develops a clearer frequency dependence above about 480 K. Effective Arrhenius fits in the 293–483 K interval yield frequency-dependent activation energies and preexponential factors that follow a Meyer-Neldel-like relation, with and . The value of is close to the phonon energy of the Raman mode near , associated with mixed octahedral vibrations. The structural, vibrational, and electrical results therefore indicate that the previously reported semiconductor-to-metal crossover is accompanied by small changes in the local Fe-O environment. The comparable vibrational and Meyer-Neldel energy scales are consistent with a possible contribution of phonon-assisted hopping involving the octahedral network.