Controllable phase connectivity and magnetoelectric coupling behavior in CoFe2O4–Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 nanostructured films

Magnetoelectric CoFe(2)O(4)-Pb(Zr,Ti)O(3) nanostructured films with various phase connectivity patterns were prepared by a pulsed laser deposition method. It was found that the microstructure as well as the phase connectivity pattern of the film varied remarkably with the variation of phase content ratio. All composite nanofilms exhibit evident ferromagnetic and ferroelectric characteristics, as well as distinct magnetoelectric coupling behavior upon increasing the magnetic field. The correlation between the phase connectivity pattern and magnetoelectric coupling behavior for the composite nanofilm was revealed. This work provides an efficient avenue to modulate the magnetoelectric coupling behavior for the ferroelectric-ferromagnetic composite nanofilm.