SrGa 0.7 Co 0.3 O 3− δ perovskite-cobalt oxide-metal nanocomposite films: magnetic and optical properties

Two-phase nanocomposite films consisting of metallic Co nanoparticles below 50 nm diameter in a perovskite matrix were grown by pulsed laser deposition onto (LaAlO 3 ) 0.3 (Sr 2 AlTaO 6 ) 0.7 (LSAT) and silicon substrates from a target of SrGa 0.73 Co 0.27 O 3 . The particles made up about 6% by volume of the film and were present within the film and at the substrate interface. The saturation magnetization of the film was up to 85 emu cm −3 at 80 nm thickness and the Faraday rotation (FR) tracked the out-of-plane hysteresis loop, reaching 3000 deg cm −1 at 10 kOe for 1550 nm wavelength. The magneto-optical figure of merit defined as FR divided by optical absorption was 0.04–0.06 deg dB −1 due to the high optical absorption of the Co particles.

Xue Yin Sun, Martin Veis, Jaroslav Kousal, Eva Jesenska, Chen Zhang, Nicolas M Aimon, Taichi Goto, Mehmet C Onbasli, Dong Hun Kim, Hong Kyoon Choi and C A Ross

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