Properties of Zirconium Oxide and Cobalt Ferrite Layered Nanocomposite

Abstract

CoFe2O4 nanoparticles with 3–30 nm in diameter were synthesized by sol-gel method. The particles were spread as a solid discontinuous layer over planar silicon and TiN substrates by spin coating and covered by 15 nm thick ZrO2 films by atomic layer deposition. Crystal structures distinctively characteristic of CoFe2O4 and ZrO2 constituents were preserved. The nanocomposite CoFe2O4-ZrO2 layers demonstrated dielectric polarization, saturative magnetization, and implications of resistive switching behavior. Behavior most clearly attributed to memory materials was observed in the field admittance characteristic with two distinct states in susceptibility of the nanocomposite.