Self-assembled thin films of Fe3O4-Ag composite nanoparticles for spintronic applications

Controlled self-assembly of multi-component magnetic nanoparticles could lead to nanomaterial-based magnetic devices with novel structures and intriguing properties. Herein, self-assembled thin films of Fe3O4-Ag composite nanoparticles (CNPs) with hetero-dimeric shapes were fabricated using interfacial assembly method. The CNP-assembled thin films were further transferred to patterned silicon substrates followed by vacuum annealing, producing CNP-based magnetoresistive (MR) devices. Due to the presence of intra-particle interfaces and inter-particle barriers, an enhanced MR ratio and a non-linear current voltage relation were observed in the device. The results of this work can potentially pave the way to the future exploration and development of spintronic devices built from composite nanomaterials. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.