Preparation and characterization of BaFe₁₂O₁₉/Y₃Fe₅O₁₂ composites

Highlights: • BaM/YIG composites were fabricated by microwave sintering method. • A simple sol–gel method was used to synthesize BaM/YIG composite powders. • The BaM phase and YIG phase are well exchange coupled in the composites. • The (BH)_max can be much enhanced by the introduction of YIG. - Abstract: BaFe₁₂O₁₉/Y₃Fe₅O₁₂ (BaM/YIG) composites with giant enhancement of magnetic energy product ((BH)_max) were fabricated by microwave sintering the BaM/YIG composite powders, which were firstly prepared using a simple sol–gel method. The phase composition and surface morphology of the as-synthesized composites were characterized by an X-ray diffractometer and a scanning electron microscopy equipped with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, respectively. The magnetic properties of the composites were investigated by a vibrating sample magnetometer. All the composites show single-phase-like magnetic hysteresis loops. The results reveal the hard phase (BaM) and soft phase (YIG) are well exchange coupled and the introduction of YIG could significantly enhance the remnant magnetization (M_r), coercivity (H_c) and (BH)_max of BaM