Magnetic properties of rare earth (RE) doped ceria (RE ¼ Nd, Sm, Gd, Tb, Er and Dy) samples have been investigated and reported in this paper. Room temperature ferromagnetism (FM) was observed in calcined powders as well as in sintered samples of Nd and Sm doped CeO 2 , whereas other RE dopants (Gd, Tb, Er and Dy) in CeO 2 exhibit paramagnetic behaviour. The origin of magnetism in these samples can be related to oxygen vacancies and formation of fluorite crystal structure. Though the magnet-ization was found to be lower as compared to transition metal (TM) doped ceria, the segregation of metallic and secondary phases can be avoided in RE doped CeO 2 . CeO 2 doped with Sm ions in different concentration (1, 5 and 15%) were also studied to see the dopant effects on magnetic properties. The origin of magnetism in these samples may be related to the oxygen vacancies created due to RE dopants, which was confirmed from the peak around 555 cm À1 in Raman spectra.

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The effect of strontium substitution on structural, magnetic, and dielectric properties of a multiferroic Y-type hexaferrite (chemical formula Ba2−xSrxMg2Fe12O22 with 0 ≤ x ≤ 2) was investigated. Y-type hexaferrite phase formation was not affected by strontium substitution for barium, in the range 0 ≤ x ≤ 1.5, confirmed by x-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy measured at room temperature. Two intermediate magnetic spin phase transitions (at tempertures TI and TII) and a ferrimagnetic-paramagnetic transition (at Curie temperature TC) were identified from the temperature dependence of the magnetic susceptibility. Magnetic transition temperatures (TI, TII, and TC) increased with increasing strontium content. Magnetic hysteresis measurements indicated that by increasing strontium concentration, the coercivity increases, while the saturation magnetization decreases. The 57Fe NMR spectrum of the Y-type hexaferrite measured at 5 K and in zero magnetic field showed remarkable differences compared to that of other hexaferrites due to their different number of tetrahedral and octahedral iron sites. The temperature and frequency dependence of the dielectric permittivity evidenced broad peaks with frequency dispersion in correspondence of the Curie temperature.

We report room-temperature ferromagnetism in Ca and Mg stabilized zirconia bulk samples and thin films. Powders were prepared by the citrate-combustion route, and thin films grown on silicon substrates by the pulsed laser deposition technique. X-ray diffractograms and Raman spectra at room temperature reveal the formation of cubic phase zirconia. The observed ferromagnetism is robust at room temperature in both bulk as well as in thin film samples, although it is weaker in thin films. The origin of the ferromagnetism can be related to oxygen vacancies created due to divalent (calcium and magnesium) substitution for tetravalent zirconium ions.

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