Strain-mediated magnetic properties of epitaxial cobalt ferrite thin films on flexible muscovite

The (111)-oriented epitaxial cobalt ferrite (Co0.8Fe2.2O4, CFO) films were grown on flexible muscovite (mica) substrates by reactive co-sputtering. The mechanical strain-tuned magnetic properties of CFO/mica heterostructures were investigated. The increased saturation magnetization and reduced coercive field were observed for the CFO/mica flexible heterostructures under the bending states. The phenomena are related to the changed magnetocrystalline anisotropy, due to the octahedron distortion. Our findings make spine ferrite thin films a potential candidate in flexible electromagnetic devices and provide a new method to study the strain-tuned properties for functional films. Copyright (C) EPLA, 2018