Description: High-performance CuFe$_{2}$ O$_{4}$ epitaxial thin films with enhanced ferromagnetic resonance properties

This title appears in the Scientific Report : 2016

High-performance CuFe$_{2}$ O$_{4}$ epitaxial thin films with enhanced ferromagnetic resonance properties

Highly epitaxial thin films of copper ferrite (CuFe2O4) have been fabricated on MgAl2O4 (001) substrates at a growth temperature of 400 °C for the first time, we believe, through a radio-frequency sputtering method. Structural analyses through high-resolution X-ray diffraction (HRXRD), Raman spectro...

Personal Name(s):	Zhang, Ruyi
	Liu, Ming (Corresponding author) / Lu, Lu / Mi, Shao-Bo / Jia, Chun-Lin / Wang, Hong (Corresponding author)
Contributing Institute:	Mikrostrukturforschung; PGI-5
Published in:	RSC Advances, 6 (2016) 102, S. 100108 - 100114
Imprint:	London RSC Publishing 2016
DOI:	10.1039/C6RA22016A
Document Type:	Journal Article
Research Program:	Controlling Configuration-Based Phenomena
	Publikationsportal JuSER

Please use the identifier: http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/C6RA22016A in citations.

Highly epitaxial thin films of copper ferrite (CuFe2O4) have been fabricated on MgAl2O4 (001) substrates at a growth temperature of 400 °C for the first time, we believe, through a radio-frequency sputtering method. Structural analyses through high-resolution X-ray diffraction (HRXRD), Raman spectroscopy, and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) all confirm the tetragonal spinel phase of CuFe2O4 epitaxial film and high tetragonal distortion (c/a = 1.08) of its unit cells. The 50 nm-thick T-CuFe2O4 epitaxial film shows unique soft magnetism with small coercivity of 23 Oe and decreased magnetization. However, a superior ferromagnetic linewidth of only ∼93 Oe in the post-annealed T-CuFe2O4 film compared with a linewidth of ∼1500 Oe in T-CuFe2O4 single crystal bulk material is also observed, which indicates that epitaxial growth of oxide thin films combined with proper heat-treatment-induced cation engineering can impose novel functionalities.