Role of interfaces in nanostructured CoFe2O4 films

In bulk ceramics, interfaces between adjacent materials can be neglected when evaluating the individual functional properties on the macroscale. However, in nanostructured materials, a region described as an interfacial region can comprise up to 10% of the total volume. By traditional XRD and SEM these regions may be hard to describe. Here we present how a combination of non destructive material analysis and property analysis brings knowledge of the chemistry at the interfaces and microstructure in the film. Epitaxial thin film CoFe₂O₄ were grown on several growth templates such as SrTiO₃, LaAlO₃, BaTiO₃ and MgO as to vary the interfacial region and subsequent growth mechanism. The chemical stability and crystallographic matching between the magnetic film and the dielectric growth template are discussed where dramatic changes of the functional properties of these nanoscale structures demonstrate that the interfaces have a deleterious effect on the properties.