Open AccessOptically Transparent Ferromagnetic Nanogranular Films with Tunable Transmittance
Author(s) -
Nobukiyo Kobayashi,
Hiroshi Masumoto,
Saburo Takahashi,
Sadamichi Maekawa
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
scientific reports
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.24
H-Index - 213
ISSN - 2045-2322
DOI - 10.1038/srep34227
Subject(s) - ferromagnetism , materials science , transmittance , optical transparency , optoelectronics , nanocomposite , ferromagnetic material properties , quantum tunnelling , quantum dot , condensed matter physics , magnetization , nanotechnology , magnetic field , physics , quantum mechanics
Developing optically transparent magnets at room temperature is an important challenge. They would bring many innovations to various industries, not only for electronic and magnetic devices but also for optical applications. Here we introduce FeCo-(Al-fluoride) nanogranular films exhibiting ferromagnetic properties with high optical transparency in the visible light region. These films have a nanocomposite structure, in which nanometer-sized FeCo ferromagnetic granules are dispersed in an Al-fluoride crystallized matrix. The optical transmittance of these films is controlled by changing the magnetization. This is a new type of magneto-optical effect and is explained by spin-dependent charge oscillation between ferromagnetic granules due to quantum-mechanical tunneling.