Magnetic field role on the structure and optical response of photonic crystals based on ferrofluids containing Co0.25Zn0.75Fe2O4 nanoparticles

Abstract

Ferrofluids based on magnetic Co0.25Zn0.75Fe2O4 ferrite nanoparticles were prepared by co-precipitation method from aqueous salt solutions of Co (II), ZnSO4, and Fe (III) in an alkaline medium. Ferrofluids placed in an external magnetic field show properties that make them interesting as magneto-controllable soft photonic crystals. Morphological and structural characterizations of the samples were obtained from Scanning Electron Microscopy and Transmission Electron Microscopy studies. Magnetic properties were investigated with the aid of a vibrating sample magnetometer at room temperature. Herein, the Co0.25Zn0.75Fe2O4 samples showed superparamagnetic behavior, according to hysteresis loop results. Taking in mind that the Co-Zn ferrite hysteresis loop is very small, our magnetic nanoparticles can be considered soft magnetic material with interesting technological applications. In addition, by using the plane-wave expansion method, we studied the photonic band structure of 2D photonic crystals made of ferrofluids with the same nanoparticles. Previous experimental results show that a magnetic field applied perpendicular to the ferrofluid plane agglomerates the magnetic nanoparticles in parallel rods to form a hexagonal 2D photonic crystal. We calculated the photonic band structure of photonic crystals by means of the effective refractive index of the magnetic fluid, basing the study on the Maxwell-Garnett theory, finding that the photonic band structure does not present any band gaps under the action of applied magnetic field strengths used in our experimental conditions.