The effect of strong magnetic field on the microstructure of pure diopside and diopside doped with Fe3+or Mn2+.

The current study investigates the effect of strong magnetic field on the micro-structure of pure diopside and diopside doped with Fe 3+ or Mn 2+ . The microstructure changes were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV–vis, and Raman spectroscopy. The results of XRD show that the strong magnetic field can increase the peak height of (311) diffraction and the height ratio of (310)/(311) is proportional to the strength of the magnetic field. UV–vis results show that the magnetic treatment and the transition-metal ion doping have some influences on the light absorbance of the diopside samples. With a fixed doping concentration, the UV–Vis absorbance of Fe 3+ -doped samples decreased after magnetic treatments, however, same UV–Vis absorbance increased for the Mn 2+ -doped samples. Result from Raman spectra suggests that Raman shift of the maximum peak value changed from 671 cm −1 before the magnetic treatment to 1015 cm −1 after the magnetic treatment. Meanwhile, the Raman intensities at 330 cm −1 and 395 cm −1 become more obvious after the magnetic treatment. The results of this study indicate a minor change in the relative positions among the ions, which then leads to polarizability changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]