Investigating the Characteristics of Cobalt-Substituted MnZn Ferrites by Equivalent Electrical Elements

We investigated the electrical and magnetic properties of cobalt-substituted manganese-zinc soft ferrite by using the equivalent lumped elements acquired from the appropriate equivalent electrical circuit of polycrystalline ferrite. We applied the equivalent lumped circuit, combined with equivalent lumped resistances and capacitance, to determine the effect of microstructure on electrical and magnetic properties of cobalt-substituted manganese-zinc ferrites. Both the hysteresis loss and the eddy-current loss of soft ferrites account for a major proportion of iron loss in high-frequency switching mode power supplies. Replacing a small portion of Fe²⁺ with Co²⁺ remarkably increases the bulk resistivity of the MnZn ferrite and decreases the core loss by lowering eddy-current loss. A longer isothermal duration causes grain growth and forms a larger equivalent capacitance, which leads to a reduction in hysteresis loss. However, excess substitution of Co²⁺ for Fe²⁺ is disadvantageous to magnetic permeability and raises core loss. We measured the dc resistivity by the four-probe method on sintered disks with both sides polished and coated with a thin layer of silver paste as a good contact material. We measured the magnetic permeability by an impedance analyzer at room temperature. The total loss of Mn_0.58Zn_0.37 Co_0.01Fe_2.04O₄ ferrite core does not exceed 420 mW/cm³ at 300 kHz/70 mT.