Effect of elastic interactions on the self-assembly of multiferroic nanostructures in epitaxial films

Combined theoretical and experimental studies of self-assembled multiferroic nanostructures in epitaxial films reveal the dominant role of elastic interactions, caused by epitaxial stresses, in defining the morphology of the nanostructures. The phase field model, which considered the individual phases in the film as elastic domains, has predicted successfully the complex morphologies observed in epitaxial multiferroic CoFe₂O₄-PbTiO₃ films grown on SrTiO₃ substrates with {001}, {110}, and {111} orientations. It is shown that nanostructures containing isolated magnetic nanorods in a ferroelectric matrix or vice versa can be obtained by varying the substrate orientation and phase fraction.