Multiferroic and enhanced microwave absorption induced by complex oxide interfaces

NiFe₂O₄ (NFO)/ZnO composite nanoparticles with different ZnO components were investigated, which were prepared by a simple wet chemical route method. The magnetoelectric coupling between magnetostriction from NFO and piezoelectricity from ZnO was induced by the surface coating NFO nanoparticles of ZnO layer, NFO/ZnO composite showed ferroelectric properties and the remanent electric polarization reached 0.08 μC/cm. Moreover, the changes of resistance at different room temperatures reached about 2% under 3 T magnetic fields comparing with that of zero magnetic fields. Furthermore, multiferroic NFO/ZnO resulted in enhancement of microwave absorption due to magnetoelectric coupling.