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Exchange bias and large room temperature magnetoresistance in ion beam-synthesized Co nanoparticles in SiO2

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Abstract

Magnetic nanogranular materials have shown promising magnetic and electron transport properties, offering key advantages for a range of applications from spintronics components to magnetic field sensors. In this paper, the properties of Co nanoparticles synthesized using low-energy ion implantation and electron beam annealing (EBA) on SiO2 were investigated. EBA leads to the growth of crystalline face-centred cubic Co nanoparticles from small nanoparticles within a Co-rich region in the near surface. The as-implanted and EBA samples are ferromagnetic with Curie temperatures above 300 K. The saturated magnetic moment per implanted Co atom was measured to be as high as 4.25 ± 0.5 μB. The moment per Co atom decreases and approaches that of bulk Co with increased EBA time. This suggests that there may be a ferromagnetic Co1-xSixOy phase that has not been previously reported. An exchange bias is observed and proposed to arise from a thin antiferromagnetic CoO layer surrounding the Co nanoparticles. We find a room temperature magnetoresistance as high as 22.8% at 8 T with linear behaviour above ~ 3 T. The linear magnetoresistance is likely to be due to a geometric magnetoresistance that is observed in inhomogeneous nanomaterials containing metallic nanoparticles in a semiconducting matrix. Thus, EBA leads to Co nanoparticles that are expected to be electronically spin polarized but there is no evidence for spin-dependent tunnelling. These unique characteristics could provide the base for novel devices.

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Abbreviations

EBA:

Electron beam annealing

RBS:

Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy

PIXE:

Particle-induced X-ray emission

TEM:

Transmission electron microscope

SQUID:

Superconducting quantum interference device

MR:

Magnetoresistance

SAED:

Selected area electron diffraction

TM:

Transition metal

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the assistance in TEM sample preparation and analysis of Drs. Mark Blackford and Robert Aughterson at the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation.

Funding sources

This work was supported by the New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (C08X1206, C05X1404), and the Australian Institute of Nuclear Science and Engineering (AINGRA08036 and AINGRA12037).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Isotope Centre, GNS Science, PO Box 31312, Lower Hutt, 5010, New Zealand

    Jérôme Leveneur & John Kennedy

  2. The MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology, SCPS – Victoria University, PO Box 600, Wellington, 6140, New Zealand

    Jérôme Leveneur, Grant V. M. Williams & John Kennedy

  3. Electron Microscopy Centre, Innovation Campus, University of Wollongong, North Wollongong, NSW, 2500, Australia

    David R. G. Mitchell

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  1. Jérôme Leveneur
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Leveneur, J., Williams, G.V.M., Mitchell, D.R.G. et al. Exchange bias and large room temperature magnetoresistance in ion beam-synthesized Co nanoparticles in SiO2. emergent mater. 2, 313–325 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42247-019-00034-8

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