CoFe2O4 thin films (5 nm and 20 nm thick) were grown by oxygen assisted molecular beam epitaxy on Pt(111) at 523~K and subsequently annealed at 773 K in vacuum or oxygen. They were characterized in-situ using Auger Electron Spectroscopy, Low-Energy Electron Diffraction, Scanning Tunneling Microscopy and Conversion Electron Mössbauer Spectroscopy. The as-grown films were composed of small, nanometric grains. Annealing of the films produced an increase in the grain size and gave rise to magnetic order at room temperature, although with a fraction of the films remaining in the paramagnetic state. Annealing also induced cobalt segregation to the surface of the thicker films. The measured Mössbauer spectra at low temperature were indicative of cobalt ferrite, the both films showing very similar hyperfine patterns. Annealing in oxygen or vacuum affected the cationic distribution, which was closer to that expected for an inverse spinel in the case of annealing in an oxygen atmosphere.
Zinc oxide and Aluminum Ferrite were prepared Chemical route. The samples were characterized by XRD and VSM. Simulation of M-H plots of Co/CoO thin films were performed. Effect of parameters was observed on saturation magnetization.
The temperature dependence of core loss in cobalt substituted Ni-Zn-Cu ferrites was investigated. Co2+ ions are known to lead to a compensation of the magneto-crystalline anisotropy in Ni-Zn ferrites, at a temperature depending on the cobalt content and the Ni/Zn ratio. We observed similar behaviour in Ni-Zn-Cu and it was found that the core loss goes through a minimum around this magneto-crystalline anisotropy compensation. Moreover, the anisotropy induced by the cobalt allowed a strong decrease of core loss, a ferrite having a core loss of 350 mW/cm3 at 80 ^\circ C was then developed (measur…
Cobalt ferrite nanoparticles have been synthesized using a co-precipitation approach. Co:Fe precursor ratio is varied over a certain window (1.05 to 1.2). It is observed that the 1.15:2 precursor ratio gives better phase control but poor coercivity. On the other hand, 1.05:2 precursor ratio results in substantially better coercivity values (274kA/m; almost 300% the value reported for co-precipitated cobalt ferrite by Praveena et al.), but moderate BH product maximum (2.25 kJ/m3; ~ comparable to many reports on cobalt ferrite nanoparticles so far). The nanoparticles with best coercivity are ann…
Cobalt substitutions were investigated in Ni0.4Zn0.4Cu0.2Fe2O4 ferrites, initial complex permeability was then measured from 1 MHz to 1 GHz. It appears that cobalt substitution led to a decrease in the permeability and an increase in the \mus\timesfr factor. As well, it gave to the permeability spectrum a sharp resonance character. We also observed a spin reorientation occurring at a temperature depending on the cobalt content. Study of the complex permeability versus temperature highlighted that the most resonant character was obtained at this temperature. This shows that cobalt contribution …
Magnetic nanoparticles of cobalt ferrite have been synthesized by wet chemical method using stable ferric and cobalt salts with oleic acid as the surfactant. X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) confirmed the formation of single phase cobalt ferrite nanoparticles in the range 15-48nm depending on the annealing temperature and time. The size of the particles increases with annealing temperature and time while the coercivity goes through a maximum, peaking at around 28nm. A very large coercivity (10.5kOe) is observed on cooling down to 77K while typical blocking eff…
The direct liquid injection chemical vapor deposition (DLI-CVD) technique has been used for the growth of cobalt ferrite (CFO) films on (100)-oriented MgAl$_2$O$_4$ (MAO) substrates. Smooth and highly epitaxial cobalt ferrite thin films, with the epitaxial relationship $\mathrm{MAO} (100)\:[001] \parallel \mathrm{CFO} (100)\:[001]$, are obtained under optimized deposition conditions. The films exhibit bulk-like structural and magnetic properties with an out-of-plane lattice constant of $8.370\;\mathrmÅ$ and a saturation magnetization of $420\;\mathrm{kA/m}$ at room temperature. The Raman spect…
Chromium substituted cobalt ferrite with grain size less than the single domain (approx. 70 nm) has been prepared by the sol-gel method. XRD analysis reveals that the samples crystallize to cubic symmetry with spacegroup number 227. Two transition temperatures (TD (approx. 450 K) and TM (approx. 600 K) have been observed from the impedance verses temperature measurement. TD increases with the increase in frequency due to dipole response to the frequency. TM is comparable with the para-ferrimagnetic transition temperature of cobalt ferrite, which is independent of frequency. This result is well…
In this work, a successful synthesis of magnetic cobalt ferrite (CoFe2O4) nanoparticles is presented. The synthesized CoFe2O4 nanoparticles have a spherical shape and highly monodisperse in the selected solvent. The effect of different reaction conditions such as temperature, reaction time and varying capping agents on the phase and morphology is studied. Scanning transmission electron microscopy showed that the size of these nanoparticles can be controlled by varying reaction conditions. Both X-ray diffraction and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy corroborate the formation of CoFe2O4 spine…
We present magnetostriction and magnetization measurements of a cobalt ferrite Co0.8Fe2.2O4 single crystal. We observe unusual behaviour in the magnetic hard axis of the single crystal which manifests in a jump of the magnetization curve at a critical field. This first order magnetization process (FOMP) which is explained as an anisotropy driven transition is visible at temperatures lower than 150 K. By analyzing the anisotropy constants we found that the higher order anisotropy constant K2 dominates the anisotropy energy. In the magnetostriction measurements the FOMP is clearly visible as a h…
Low frequency magnetoelectric (ME) coupling has been investigated in bulk and multilayers of cobalt zinc ferrite, Co1-xZnxFe2O4 (x=0-0.6), and lead zirconate titanate. In bulk samples, the transverse and longitudinal couplings are weak and are of equal magnitude. A substantial strengthening of ME interactions is evident in layered structures, with the ME voltage coefficient a factor of 10-30 higher than in bulk samples. Important findings of the studies in layered composites are as follows. (i) The transverse coupling is stronger than the longitudinal coupling. (ii) The strength of ME interact…
In this work we report a study of the magnetic behavior of ferrimagnetic oxide CoFe2O4 treated by mechanical milling with different grinding balls. The cobalt ferrite nanoparticles were prepared using a simple hydrothermal method and annealed at 500oC. The non-milled sample presented coercivity of about 1.9 kOe, saturation magnetization of 69.5 emu/g, and a remanence ratio of 0.42. After milling, two samples attained coercivity of 4.2 and 4.1 kOe, and saturation magnetization of 67.0 and 71.4 emu/g respectively. The remanence ratio MR/MS for these samples increase to 0.49 and 0.51, respectivel…
Perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) energy up to $K_{\mathrm{u}}=6.1\pm0.8$ MJ m$^{-3}$ is demonstrated in this study by inducing large lattice-distortion exceeding 3% at room temperature in epitaxially distorted cobalt ferrite Co$ _{x} $Fe$ _{3-x} $O$ _{4} $ (x = 0.72) (001) thin films. Although the thin film materials include no rare-earth elements or noble metals, the observed $ K_{u} $ is larger than that of the neodymium-iron-boron compounds for high-performance permanent magnets. The large PMA is attributed to the significantly enhanced magneto-elastic effects, which are pronounced i…
The magnetization of thin films of cobalt ferrite frequently falls far below the bulk value of 455 kAm-1, which corresponds to an inverse cation distribution in the spinel structure with a significant orbital moment of about 0.6 muB that is associated with the octahedrally-coordinated Co2+ ions. The orbital moment is responsible for the magnetostriction and magnetocrystalline anisotropy, and its sensitivity to imposed strain. We have systematically investigated the structure and magnetism of films produced by pulsed-laser deposition on different substrates (TiO2, MgO, MgAl2O4, SrTiO3, LSAT, La…
We report direct experimental evidence of room temperature spin filtering in magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) containing CoFe2O4 tunnel barriers via tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) measurements. Pt(111)/CoFe2O4(111)/gamma-Al2O3(111)/Co(0001) fully epitaxial MTJs were grown in order to obtain a high quality system, capable of functioning at room temperature. Spin polarized transport measurements reveal significant TMR values of -18% at 2 K and -3% at 290 K. In addition, the TMR ratio follows a unique bias voltage dependence that has been theoretically predicted to be the signature of spin fil…
CoFe2O4 nanoparticles were synthesized using gelatin as a polymerizing agent. Structural, morphological and magnetic properties of samples treated at different temperatures were investigated by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, Mossbauer spectroscopy and magnetization measurements. Our results revealed that the samples annealed at 623 K and temperatures above 973 K have a cation distributions given by (Co0.19Fe0.81)[Co0.81Fe1.19]O4 and (Co0.06Fe0.94)[Co0.94Fe1.06]O4, respectively. The particle sizes varied from 73 to 296 nm and the magnetocrystalline anisotropy, K1, has values r…
Cobalt ferrite ultrathin films with inverse spinel structure are among the best candidates for spin-filtering at room temperature. We have fabricated high-quality epitaxial ultrathin CoFe2O4 layers on Ag(001) following a three-step method: an ultrathin metallic CoFe2 alloy was first grown in coherent epitaxy on the substrate, and then treated twice with O2, first at RT and then during annealing. The epitaxial orientation, the surface, interface and film structure were resolved combining LEED, STM, Auger and in situ GIXRD. A slight tetragonal distortion was observed, that should drive the easy …
In this study we have compared magnetic, magnetostrictive and piezomagnetic properties of isotropic and anisotropic cobalt ferrite pellets. The isotropic sample was prepared by the ceramic method while the sample exhibiting uniaxial anisotropy was made by reactive sintering using Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS). This technique permits to induce a magnetic anisotropy in cobalt ferrite in the direction of the applied pressure during SPS process. Sample with uniaxial anisotropy revealed a higher longitudinal magnetostriction and piezomagnetism compared to the isotropic sample, but the transversal ma…
Magnetic nanomaterials (23-43 nm) of Cu$_x$Co$_{1-x}$Fe$_2$O$_4$\ (x = 0.0, 0.5 and 1.0) were synthesized by auto combustion method. The crystallite sizes of these materials were calculated from X-ray diffraction peaks. The band observed in Fourier transform infrared spectrum near 575 cm$^{-1}$ in these samples confirm the presence of ferrite phase. Conductivity measurement shows the thermal hysteresis and demonstrates the knee points at 475$^o$C, 525$^o$C and 500$^o$C for copper ferrite, cobalt ferrite and copper-cobalt mixed ferrite respectively. The hystersis M-H loops for these materials w…
The magnetization behaviour of the soft Cobalt Ferrite-hard Strontium Ferrite nanocomposite is tuned from the non exchange spring nature to the exchange spring nature, by controlling the particle size of the soft Cobalt Ferrite in the Cobalt Ferrite: Strontium Ferrite (1:8) nanocomposite. The relative strength of the interaction governing the magnetization process in the nanocomposites is investigated using Henkel plot and First Order Reversal Curve (FORC) method. The FORC method has been utilized to understand the magnetization reversal behaviour as well as the extent of the irreversible magn…
Magnetoelectric Coupling in Nickel-Cobalt Ferrite and Lanthanum Ferrite Heterostructure Composites: Experimental Evidence and Simulation-Driven Insights
The synthesis of layered ferrite-lead titanate zirconate (PZT) and lanthanum nanganite-PZT and the observation of giant magneto-electric interactions are discussed. The ferrites used in our studies included pure and Zn substituted cobalt-, nickel- and lithium ferrites. Ferromagnetic manganites used included both calcium and strontium substituted systems. The samples were prepared from 10-40 mm thick films obtained by tape-casting. Our studies showed strong ME coupling in manganite-PZT and cobalt zinc ferrite-PZT, and a giant ME effect in nickel zinc ferrite-PZT. We found evidence for Zn assist…
A detailed correlative structural, magnetic and chemical analysis of non-stoichiometric cobalt ferrite micrometric crystals was performed by x-ray magnetic circular dichroism combined with photoemission microscopy, low energy electron microscopy, and atomic force microscopy. The vector magnetization at the nanoscale is obtained from magnetic images at different x-ray incidence angles and compared with micromagnetic simulations, revealing the presence of defects which pin the magnetic domain walls. A comparison of different types of defects and the domain walls location suggests that the main s…
Graphene is attractive for spintronics due to its long spin life time and high mobility. So far only thick and polycrystalline slabs have been used as ferromagnetic electrodes. We report the growth of flat, epitaxial ultrathin Co films on graphene. These display perpendicular magnetic anisotropy in the thickness range 0.5-1nm, which is confirmed by theory. PMA, epitaxy and ultrathin thickness bring new perspectives for graphene-based spintronic devices such as the zero-field control of an arbitrary magnetization direction, band matching between electrodes and graphene, and interface effects su…
We prepared very high-coercivity cobalt ferrite nanoparticles using short-time high-energy mechanical milling. After the milling process, the coercivity of the nanoparticles reached 3.75 kOe - a value almost five times higher than that obtained for the non-milled sample. We performed a thermal treatment on the milled sample at 300, 400, and 600 oC for 30 and 180 mins, and studied the changes in the magnetic parameters due to the thermal treatment using the hysteresis curves, Williamson-Hall analysis, and transmission electron microscopy. The thermal treatment at 600 oC causes a decrease in the…
In this study, the microscopic origins of the voltage-controlled magnetic anisotropy (VCMA) in 3d-ferromagnetic metals are revealed. Using in-situ X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy that provides a high quantum efficiency, electric-field-induced changes in orbital magnetic moment and magnetic dipole Tz terms in ultrathin Co films are demonstrated. An orbital magnetic moment difference of 0.013μB. was generated in the presence of electric fields of +(-)0.2 V/nm. The VCMA of Co was properly estimated by the induced change in orbital magnetic moment, according to the perturbation theory model. The i…
In-depth investigations of size and occupancies in cobalt ferrite nanoparticles by joint Rietveld refinements of X-ray and neutron powder diffraction data
Growth of Co film on SiO2 substrates with the surface roughness of 0.5 nm and 1.6 nm has been studied in situ using the magneto-optical Kerr effect (MOKE) and four probe resistivity measurements. In-situ measurements jointly suggest the Volmer-Weber growth process and proceed via a nonmagnetic, superparamagnetic and ferromagnetic phase formation on both substrates. Islands are found to coalesce at film thicknesses of 0.6 nm and at 1.5 nm with continuous film formation around film thicknesses of 1.5 nm and 3.0 nm for smooth and rough substrates, respectively. Ferromagnetic long-range ordering i…
We prepared three ferrite nanocatalysts: (i) copper ferrite (CuFe2O4), (ii) ferrite where cobalt was substituted by nickel (NixCo1-xFe2O4, with x= 0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6), and (iii) ferrite where nickel was substituted by zinc (ZnyNi1-yFe2O4 with y= 1, 0.7, 0.5, 0.3), by the sol-gel method. The X-ray diffraction patterns show that the ferrite samples have been crystallized in the cubic spinel structural phase. We obtained the grain size by FE-SEM images in the range of 10-70 nm, and their magnetic properties by VSM. Next, carbon nanotubes were grown on these nanocatalysts by the CCVD method. We show…
The effect of the AlOx barrier thickness on magnetic and morphological properties of Ta/Co/(AlOx)/Alq3/Si hybrid structures was systematically studied by means of atomic force microscopy, SQUID magnetometry and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). All used techniques pointed out that the barrier thickness of 2 nm is required to obtain a magnetically good cobalt layer on top of Alq3. 59Co NMR measurements revealed that the AlOx barrier gives rise to the formation of an interface layer with "defective" cobalt favouring growth of "bulk" cobalt with good magnetic properties.
We present room temperature ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) studies of polycrystalline ||Pt/10 nm Cu/t Co/10 nm Cu/Pt|| films as a function of Co layer thickness (1 < t < 10 nm) grown by evaporation and magnetron sputtering. FMR was studied with a high frequency broadband coplanar waveguide (up to 25 GHz) using a flip-chip method. The resonance field and the linewidth were measured as a function of the ferromagnetic layer thickness. The evaporated films exhibit a lower magnetization density (Ms = 1131 emu/cm^3) compared to the sputtered films (Ms= 1333 emu/cm^3), with practically equal perpendic…
Recently high density (HD) nonmagnetic (NM) cobalt has been discovered in a cobalt thin film, grown on Si(111). This cobalt film had a natural cobalt oxide at the top. The oxide layer forms when the film is taken out of the electron-beam deposition chamber and exposed to air. Thin HD NM cobalt layers were found near the cobalt/silicon and the cobalt-oxide/cobalt interfaces, while the thicker mid-depth region of the film was hcp cobalt with normal density and normal magnetic moment. If an ultrathin film of gold is grown on the cobalt layer, before exposing it to air, the oxidation of the cobalt…
A detailed spectroscopic and structural characterization of ultrathin cobalt oxide films grown by O-assisted molecular beam epitaxy on a-Al2O3(0001) single crystals is reported. The experimental results show that the cobalt oxide films become progressively more disordered with increasing thickness, starting from the early stages of deposition. Low energy electron diffraction patterns suggest that the unit cell remains similar to that of a-Al2O3(0001) up to a thickness of 17 A, while at larger thicknesses a pattern identified with that of Co3O4(111) becomes visible. X-ray photoelectron spectros…
Over the past few years, intensive studies of ultrathin epitaxial films of perovskite oxides have often revealed exciting properties like giant magnetoresistive tunnelling and electric field effects. Spinel oxides appear as even more versatile due to their more complex structure and the resulting many degrees of freedom. Here we show that the epitaxial growth of nanometric NiFe2O4 films onto perovskite substrates allows the stabilization of novel ferrite phases with properties dramatically differing from bulk ones. Indeed, NiFe2O4 films few nanometres thick have a saturation magnetization at l…
Using combined magnetometry and ferromagnetic resonance studies, it is shown that introduction of a hydrocarbon cover layer leads to an increase of the contribution of the surface anisotropy to the effective magnetic anisotropy energy of hexagonal close-packed 0001 cobalt films, largely enhancing the perpendicular anisotropy. Due to a weak electronic interaction of the organic molecules with the Co atoms, an increase of surface anisotropy could be explained by the presence of an electric field at the organic-material/Co interface and by modification of surface atoms charge configuration.
Magnetism of 3d transition metals at high density has always received wide interest due to existence of magnetism at the core of the Earth. For ferromagnetic cobalt, although there is a theoretical prediction that its magnetic moment would vanish when the density increases to about 1.4 times the normal value, so far there is no experimental evidence. We have discovered the existence of ultrathin superdense nonmagnetic cobalt layers in a polycrystalline cobalt thin film. The densities of these layers are about 1.3-1.4 times the normal density of Co. This has been revealed by X-ray reflectometry…
Inter-valence charge transfer (IVCT) is electron transfer between two metal $M$ sites differing in oxidation states through a bridging ligand: $M^{n+1} + M'^{m} \rightarrow M^{n} + M'^{m+1}$. It is considered that IVCT is related to the hopping probability of electron (or the electron mobility) in solids. Since controlling the conductivity of ferromagnetic semiconductors (FMSs) is a key subject for the development of spintronic device applications, the manipulation of the conductivity through IVCT may become a new approach of band engineering in FMSs. In Ru-doped cobalt ferrite CoFe$_2$O$_4$ (…
Layered ferromagnetic-piezoelectric composites show mechanical strain mediated electromagnetic coupling. Here we discuss dielectric and piezoelectric properties of ferrite-lead zirconate titanate (PZT) and lanthanum manganite-PZT samples. Results of our investigations on dielectric and pyroelectric properties of multilayer ferromagnetic-piezoelectric are presented here. Lead zircinate-titanate PbZrxTi1-xO3 (PZT) was used for the piezoelectric phase in all the structures. The following materials were used for the ferromagnetic component: nickel-zinc ferrites Ni0.9Zn 0.1Fe2O4 (NFO1) and Ni0.8Zn0…
Ferrites with (inverse) spinel structure display a large variety of electronic and magnetic properties making some of them interesting for potential applications in spintronics. We investigate the thermally induced interdiffusion of Ni$^{2+}$ ions out of NiO into Fe$_3$O$_4$ ultrathin films resulting in off-stoichiometric nickelferrite-like thin layers. We synthesized epitaxial Fe$_3$O$_4$/NiO bilayers on Nb-doped SrTiO$_3$(001) substrates by means of reactive molecular beam epitaxy. Subsequently, we performed an annealing cycle comprising three steps at temperatures of 400\,$^{\circ}$C, 600\,…
Electric gating can strongly modulate a wide variety of physical properties in semiconductors and insulators, such as significant changes of conductivity in silicon, appearance of superconductivity in SrTiO3, the paramagnet-ferromagnet transition in (In,Mn)As and so on. The key to such modulation is charge accumulation in solids. Thus, it has been believed that such modulation is out of reach for conventional metals where the number of carriers is too large. However, success in tuning the Curie temperature of ultrathin cobalt gave hope of finally achieving such degree of control even in metall…
Terahertz emission spectroscopy of ultrathin multilayers of magnetic and heavy metals has recently attracted much interest. This method not only provides fundamental insights into photoinduced spin transport and spin-orbit interaction at highest frequencies but has also paved the way to applications such as efficient and ultrabroadband emitters of terahertz electromagnetic radiation. So far, predominantly standard ferromagnetic materials have been exploited. Here, by introducing a suitable figure of merit, we systematically compare the strength of terahertz emission from X/Pt bilayers with X b…
