Predicting and understanding the cation distribution in spinels has been one of the most interesting problems in materials science. The present work investigates the effect of cation redistribution on the structural, electrical, optical... more
Predicting and understanding the cation distribution in spinels has been one of the most interesting problems in materials science. The present work investigates the effect of cation redistribution on the structural, electrical, optical and magnetic properties of mixed-valent inverse spinel NiCo2O4(NCO) thin films. It is observed that the films grown at low temperatures (T < 400 °C) exhibit metallic behavior while that grown at higher temperatures (T > 400 °C) are insulators with lower ferrimagnetic-paramagnetic phase transition temperature. So far, n-type Fe3O4 has been used as a conducting layer for the spinel thin films based devices and the search for a p-type counterpart still remains elusive. The inherent coexistence and coupling of ferrimagnetic order and the metallic nature in p-type NCO makes it a promising candidate for spintronic devices. Detailed X-ray Absorption and X-ray Magnetic Circular Dichroism studies revealed a strong correlation between the mixed-valent cation distribution and the resulting ferrimagnetic-metallic/insulating behavior. Our study clearly demonstrates that it is the concentration of Ni(3+)ions and the Ni(3+)-O(2-)Ni(2+) double exchange interaction that is crucial in dictating the metallic behavior in NCO ferrimagnet. The metal-insulator and the associated magnetic order-disorder transitions can be tuned by the degree of cation site disorder via growth conditions.
In the past decades, mesocrystal, a kind of nanocrystals with specific crystallographic orientation, has drawn a lot of attention due to its intriguing functionalities. While the research community keeps searching for new mesocrystal... more
In the past decades, mesocrystal, a kind of nanocrystals with specific crystallographic orientation, has drawn a lot of attention due to its intriguing functionalities. While the research community keeps searching for new mesocrystal systems, it is equally crucial to develop new approaches to tune the properties of mesocrystals. In this work, a self-organized two-dimensional mesocrystal composed of highly oriented CoFe2O4 (CFO) nano-crystals with assistance of different perovskite matrices is studied as a model system. We have demonstrated that the strain state and corresponding magnetic properties of the CFO mesocrystal can be modulated by changing the surrounding perovskite matrix through their intimate structural coupling. Interestingly, this controllability is more strongly correlated to the competition of bonding strength between the matrices and the CFO mesocrystals rather than the lattice mismatch. When embedded in a matrix with a higher melting point or stiffness, the CFO me...
Interfacial moments of an antiferromagnet are known for their prominent effects of induced coercivity enhancement and exchange bias in ferromagnetic-antiferromagnetic exchange-coupled systems. Here we report that the unpinned moments of... more
Interfacial moments of an antiferromagnet are known for their prominent effects of induced coercivity enhancement and exchange bias in ferromagnetic-antiferromagnetic exchange-coupled systems. Here we report that the unpinned moments of an antiferromagnetic face-centered-cubic Mn layer can drive the magnetization of an adjacent Fe film perpendicular owing to a formation of intrinsic perpendicular anisotropy. X-ray magnetic circular dichroism and hysteresis loops show establishment of perpendicular magnetization on Fe/Mn bilayers while temperature was decreased. The fact that the magnitude of perpendicular anisotropy of the Fe layer is enhanced proportionally to the out-of-plane oriented orbital moment of the Mn unpinned layer, rather than that of Fe itself, gives evidence for the Mn unpinned moments to be the origin of the established perpendicular magnetization.
Complex oxide nanocrystals with a spinel structure show their remarkable optical, electronic, mechanical, thermal, and magnetic properties. In this study, we present a simple yet versatile strategy to grow self-assembled epitaxial CoFe2O4... more
Complex oxide nanocrystals with a spinel structure show their remarkable optical, electronic, mechanical, thermal, and magnetic properties. In this study, we present a simple yet versatile strategy to grow self-assembled epitaxial CoFe2O4 nanocrystals with well-controlled size (less than 10 nm) and single orientation. CoFe2O4 nanocrystals were fabricated via phase separation in a BiFeO3-CoF2O4 ultrathin film by pulsed laser deposition. The coherent strain at the BiFeO3-CoF2O4 interface suppressed the growth of the nanocrystals regardless of substrate temperatures. This strain also resulted in the ferromagnetic anisotropy and interesting conducting behaviors of ultrafine CFO nanocrystals.
In addition to doping in the lattice that affects the intra-block coupling, intercalated molecules sit in between the consecutive basal planes, thereby increasing the effective length of the c-axis. This, in turn, must lead to a decrease... more
In addition to doping in the lattice that affects the intra-block coupling, intercalated molecules sit in between the consecutive basal planes, thereby increasing the effective length of the c-axis. This, in turn, must lead to a decrease in inter-block coupling. Both the doping and intercalation have been reported to affect the evolution of Tc in a system, implying the inherent
Publication Date: 2002
Publication Name: Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter
Abstract The laminated soft layer (LSL) that comprises the granular [CoPtCr–SiO 2/Pt] N multilayers with perpendicular magnetization is designed to reduce the switching field of exchange coupled composite (ECC) media. The magnetic... more
Abstract The laminated soft layer (LSL) that comprises the granular [CoPtCr–SiO 2/Pt] N multilayers with perpendicular magnetization is designed to reduce the switching field of exchange coupled composite (ECC) media. The magnetic simulation shows that the ...
The laminated soft layer (LSL) [Pt/CoPtCr-SiO2]5 was used in exchange coupled composite (ECC) media and exhibited a tunable perpendicular anisotropy by changing the thickness of Pt. By using x-ray magnetic circular dichroism, the... more
The laminated soft layer (LSL) [Pt/CoPtCr-SiO2]5 was used in exchange coupled composite (ECC) media and exhibited a tunable perpendicular anisotropy by changing the thickness of Pt. By using x-ray magnetic circular dichroism, the incoherent reversal in the ECC media with a LSL was directly observed. The nucleation field of ECC media was found to be dominated by the anisotropy of
X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) was used to directly probe the depth-dependent magnetization reversal of CoPtCr-SiO2-based exchange-coupled-composite media with laminated soft layers. A thin Fe-marker layer in the soft layer was... more
X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) was used to directly probe the depth-dependent magnetization reversal of CoPtCr-SiO2-based exchange-coupled-composite media with laminated soft layers. A thin Fe-marker layer in the soft layer was used as the indicator of ...
Epitaxial core-shell CoO-CoFe2 O4 nanocrystals are fabricated by using pulsed laser deposition with the aid of melted material (Bi2 O3 ) addition and suitable lattice mismatch provided by substrates (SrTiO3 ). Well aligned orientations... more
Epitaxial core-shell CoO-CoFe2 O4 nanocrystals are fabricated by using pulsed laser deposition with the aid of melted material (Bi2 O3 ) addition and suitable lattice mismatch provided by substrates (SrTiO3 ). Well aligned orientations among nanocrystals and reversible core-shell sequence reveal tunable magnetic anisotropy. The interfacial coupling between core and shell further engineers the nanocrystal functionality.
