Strain relaxation and enhanced perpendicular magnetic anisotropy in BiFeO{sub 3}:CoFe{sub 2}O{sub 4} vertically aligned nanocomposite thin films

Journal Article · Mon Feb 10 00:00:00 EST 2014 · Applied Physics Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4864405· OSTI ID:22283191

Zhang, Wenrui; Jiao, Liang; Li, Leigang ^[1]; Jian, Jie; Khatkhatay, Fauzia; Chu, Frank ^[2]; Chen, Aiping ^[2]; Jia, Quanxi ^[3]; MacManus-Driscoll, Judith L. ^[4]; Wang, Haiyan ^[1]

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1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Texas A and M University, College Station, Texas 77843 (United States)
2. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Texas A and M University, College Station, Texas 77843 (United States)
3. Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies (CINT), Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545 (United States)
4. Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy, University of Cambridge, Pembroke Street, Cambridge CB2 3QZ (United Kingdom)

Self-assembled BiFeO{sub 3}:CoFe{sub 2}O{sub 4} (BFO:CFO) vertically aligned nanocomposite thin films have been fabricated on SrTiO{sub 3} (001) substrates using pulsed laser deposition. The strain relaxation mechanism between BFO and CFO with a large lattice mismatch has been studied by X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. The as-prepared nanocomposite films exhibit enhanced perpendicular magnetic anisotropy as the BFO composition increases. Different anisotropy sources have been investigated, suggesting that spin-flop coupling between antiferromagnetic BFO and ferrimagnetic CFO plays a dominant role in enhancing the uniaxial magnetic anisotropy.

• OSTI ID: 22283191
• Journal Information: Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 104, Issue 6; Other Information: (c) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0003-6951
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY
ANISOTROPY
ANTIFERROMAGNETISM
BISMUTH COMPOUNDS
COBALT OXIDES
COMPOSITE MATERIALS
COUPLING
CRYSTAL DEFECTS
ENERGY BEAM DEPOSITION
FERRIMAGNETISM
FERRITES
LASER RADIATION
NANOSTRUCTURES
PULSED IRRADIATION
RELAXATION
SPIN
STRAINS
STRONTIUM TITANATES
THIN FILMS
TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPY
X-RAY DIFFRACTION