Exploring interfacial magnetism in all-spinel Fe<sub>3</sub>O<sub>4</sub>/MgCr<sub>2</sub>O<sub>4</sub>/Fe<sub>3</sub>O<sub>4</sub> epitaxial heterostructures
Epitaxial heterostructures integrating thin Fe<sub>3</sub>O<sub>4</sub> films hold great potential for spintronics, magnetoionics, and multifunctional device development. In this work, the morpho-structural and magnetic properties of all-spinel Fe<sub>3</sub>O<sub>4</sub>/MgCr<sub>2</sub>O<sub>4</sub>/Fe<sub>3</sub>O<sub>4</sub> trilayers grown on an MgCr<sub>2</sub>O<sub>4</sub> buffer layer, exhibiting very close lattice matching, were investigated using both surface- and bulk-sensitive techniques. The close lattice match between Fe<sub>3</sub>O<sub>4</sub> and MgCr<sub>2</sub>O<sub>4</sub> enables the growth of epitaxial heterostructures with magnetically decoupled Fe<sub>3</sub>O<sub>4</sub> layers for spacer thicknesses of ≥1.6 nm, while reducing the formation of antiphase boundaries. Despite localized interphase diffusion, which leads to the formation of a mixed Cr/Fe spinel oxide with magnetically polarized Cr ions at the Fe<sub>3</sub>O<sub>4</sub>/MgCr<sub>2</sub>O<sub>4</sub> interfaces, the overall magnetic properties remain largely consistent with those of the individual Fe<sub>3</sub>O<sub>4</sub> layers. This study sheds light on the magnetic interactions within Fe<sub>3</sub>O<sub>4</sub> layers mediated by an MgCr<sub>2</sub>O<sub>4</sub> spacer and demonstrates the feasibility of the approach in preserving the properties of thin Fe<sub>3</sub>O<sub>4</sub> films in complex heterostructures, thus offering a promising pathway for designing advanced all-spinel oxide devices.
Authors
- P. Mengucci (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9049-8524)
- Gaspare Varvaro (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7313-7268)
- Bogdan Rutkowski (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0974-6450)
- Alberto Martinelli
- Shyni Punathum Chalil
- F. Borgatti (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4659-4329)
- G. Panaccione (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0122-4041)
- Sandeep Kumar Chaluvadi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3689-3336)
- Emiliano Marchetti
- Vincent Polewczyk (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0932-6376)
- P. Orgiani (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1082-9651)
- Federico Motti (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2684-0764)
- Gianni Barucca (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7368-6264)
- Deepnarayan Biswas (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4590-7944)
- F. Offi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6130-8733)
- Davide Peddis (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0810-8860)
- Gian Marco Pierantozzi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5044-5716)
- A. Yu. Petrov (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6199-9319)
- Tien-Lin Lee
Institutions
- Roma Tre University (IT)
- Marche Polytechnic University (IT)
- Diamond Light Source (GB)
- Superconducting and other Innovative Materials and Devices Institute (IT)
- Institute of Nanostructured Materials (IT)
- Istituto Officina dei Materiali (IT)
- Ospedali Riuniti di Ancona (IT)
- Institute of Structure of Matter (IT)
- National Research Council (IT)
- National Interuniversity Consortium of Materials Science and Technology (IT)
- AGH University of Krakow (PL)
- University of Genoa (IT)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nanoscale
- Published
- 2025-01-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1039/d5nr00971e
- Primary Topic
- Magnetic Properties and Synthesis of Ferrites
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Diamond Light Source
- European Commission
- Horizon 2020 Framework Programme