Traditional magnetostrictive/piezoelectric laminated composites rely on the two-dimensional interface that transfers stress/strain to achieve the large magnetoelectric (ME) coupling, nevertheless, they suffer from the theoretical limitation of the strain effect and of the substrate clamping effect in real ME applications. In this work, 3D NZFO/BTO-pillar nanocomposite films were grown on SrTiO3 by template-assisted pulsed laser deposition, where BaTiO3 (BTO) nanopillars appeared in an array with distinct phase transitions as the cores were covered by NiZn ferrite (NZFO) layer. The perfect 3D heteroepitaxial interface between BTO and NZFO phases can be identified without any edge dislocations, which allows effective strain transfer at the 3D interface. The 3D structure nanocomposites enable the strong two magnon scattering (TMS) effect that enhances ME coupling at the interface and reduces the clamping effect by strain relaxation. Thereby, a large FMR field shift of 1866 Oe in NZFO/BTO-pillar nanocomposite was obtained at the TMS critical angle near the BTO nanopillars phase transition of 255 K.
Keywords: 3D nanostructure; ferromagnetic resonance; magnetoelectric coupling; multiferroic; spinel ferrite.