Magnetic property tuning of epitaxial spinel ferrite thin films by strain and composition modulation
Abstract
Epitaxial spinel ferrite CoFe2O4 and NiFe2O4 thin films and bilayers of NiFe2O4 and CoFe2O4 have been grown by pulsed laser deposition on (001)-oriented SrTiO3 and MgO substrates. Both the single layer thin films showed epitaxial growth on MgO substrates with out-of-plane magnetic easy axis, originating from the out-of-plane compressive strain and negative magnetostriction constant. However, films on SrTiO3 substrates exhibited a magnetic easy axis along the in-plane. Magnetic hysteresis loops showed intermediate shape between magnetically hard CoFe2O4 and magnetically soft NiFe2O4 without two-step switching. Interdiffusion between spinel phases was suppressed using a blocking layer of MgO.
- Publication:
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Applied Physics A: Materials Science & Processing
- Pub Date:
- October 2017
- DOI:
- 10.1007/s00339-017-1259-9
- Bibcode:
- 2017ApPhA.123..648K