We report exchange bias (EB) effect in the Au-Fe3O4 composite nanoparticle system, where one or more Fe3O4 nanoparticles are attached to an Au seed particle forming dimer and cluster morphologies, with the clusters showing much stronger EB in compari
son with the dimers. The EB effect develops due to the presence of stress in the Au-Fe3O4 interface which leads to the generation of highly disordered, anisotropic surface spins in the Fe3O4 particle. The EB effect is lost with the removal of the interfacial stress. Our atomistic Monte-Carlo studies are in excellent agreement with the experimental results. These results show a new path towards tuning EB in nanostructures, namely controllably creating interfacial stress, and open up the possibility of tuning the anisotropic properties of biocompatible nanoparticles via a controllable exchange coupling mechanism.
We report here the growth and characterization of functional oxide nanowire of hole doped manganite of La0.5Sr0.5MnO3 (LSMO). We also report four probe electrical resistance measurement of single nanowire of LSMO (diameter ~ 45nm) using FIB fabricate
d electrodes. The wires were fabricated by hydrothermal method using autoclave at a temperature of 270 oC. The elemental analysis and physical property like electrical resistivity were studied at individual nanowire level. The quantitative determination of Mn valency and elemental mapping of constituent elements was done by using Electron Energy Loss Spectroscopy (EELS) in the Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy (STEM) mode. We addressed the important issue of whether as a result of size reduction the nanowires can retain the desired composition, structure and physical properties. The nanowires used were found to have a ferromagnetic transition (TC) at around 325 K which is very close to the bulk value of around 330 K found in single crystal of the same composition confirming that the functional behavior is likely to be retained even after size reduction of the nanowires to a diameter of 45 nm. The electrical resistivity shows insulating behavior within the temperature range measured, which is very much similar to the bulk system.
