Surface Spin Disorder in<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mml:mrow><mml:msub><mml:mrow><mml:mi>NiFe</mml:mi></mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:mn>2</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:msub></mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:msub><mml:mrow><mml:mi>O</mml:mi></mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:mn>4</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:msub></mml:mrow></mml:math>Nanoparticles

Nickel ferrite nanoparticles exhibit anomalous magnetic properties at low temperatures: low magnetization with a large differential susceptibility at high fields, hysteresis loops which are open up to 160 kOe, time-dependent magnetization in 70 kOe applied field, and shifted hysteresis loops after field cooling. We propose a model of the magnetization within these particles consisting of ferrimagnetically aligned core spins and a spin-glass-like surface layer. We find that qualitative features of this model are reproduced by a numerical calculation of the spin distribution. Implications of this model for possible macroscopic quantum tunneling in these materials are discussed.