title: Nucleation-induced self-assembly of multiferroic BiFeO3-CoFe2O4 nanocomposites.
abstract: Large areas of perfectly ordered magnetic CoFe2O4 nanopillars embedded in a ferroelectric BiFeO3 matrix were successfully fabricated via a novel nucleation-induced self-assembly process. The nucleation centers of the magnetic pillars are induced before the growth of the composite structure using anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) and lithography-defined gold membranes as hard mask. High structural quality and good functional properties were obtained. Magneto-capacitance data revealed extremely low losses and magneto-electric coupling of about 0.9 μC/cmOe. The present fabrication process might be relevant for inducing ordering in systems based on phase separation, as the nucleation and growth is a rather general feature of these systems.
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics, Halle (Saale), Germany.
authors.forename: Sergiu M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Stratulat
authors.forename: Xiaoli
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Alessio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Morelli
authors.forename: Dietrich
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hesse
authors.forename: Wilfried
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Erfurth
authors.forename: Marin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Alexe