Barium hexaferrite/muscovite heteroepitaxy with mechanically robust perpendicular magnetic anisotropy

Recent advances in the design and development of magnetic storage devices have led to an enormous interest in materials with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) property. The past decade has witnessed a huge growth in the development of flexible devices such as displays, circuit boards, batteries, memories, etc. since they have gradually made an impact on people’s lives. Thus, the integration of PMA materials with flexible substrates can benefit the development of flexible magnetic devices. In this study, we developed a heteroepitaxy of BaFe₁₂O₁₉ (BaM)/muscovite which displays both mechanical flexibility and PMA property. The particular PMA property was characterized by vibrating sample magnetometer, magnetic force microscopy, and x-ray absorption spectroscopy. To quantify the PMA property of the system, the intrinsic magnetic anisotropy energy density of ~2.83 Merg cm⁻³ was obtained. Furthermore, the heterostructure exhibits robust PMA property against severe mechanical bending. The findings of this study on the BaM/muscovite heteroepitaxy have several important implications for research in next-generation flexible magnetic recording devices and actuators.