We have grown highly crystalline magnetite nanostructures on lithographied ruthenium stripes on sapphire substrates. This allows e.g., the manipulation of their magnetic domains by applying current pulses and magnetic fields.

We have been able to replicate our earlier results on the growth of highly crystalline nanostructures on Ru(0001) single crystals, this time on thin Ru films epitaxially grown on sapphire substrates. This platform, closer to device applications, opens the way to the performance of a series of interesting experiments on the nanostructures. We have grown high-quality magnetite micrometric islands of nanometric heights on ruthenium stripes on sapphire through a combination of magnetron sputtering (Ru film), high-temperature molecular beam epitaxy (oxide islands) and optical lithography (stripe definition). The samples have been characterized by atomic force microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray absorption and magnetic circular dichroism in a photoemission microscope. The magnetic domains on the magnetite islands can be modified by the application of current pulses through the Ru stripes in combination with magnetic fields. The modification of the magnetic domains is explained by the Oersted field generated by the electrical current flowing through the stripes underneath the magnetite nanostructures. The fabrication method is applicable to a wide variety of rock-salt and spinel oxides. S. Ruiz-Gómez, E.M. Trapero, C. Fernández-González, A. del Campo, C. Granados-Miralles, J.E. Prieto, M.W. Khaliq, M.A. Niño, M. Foerster, L. Aballe and J. de la Figuera, “A Platform for Addressing Individual Magnetite Islands Grown Epitaxially on Ru(0001) and Manipulating Their Magnetic Domains“ Cryst. Growth Des. 23, 5785 (2023). DOI: 10.1021/acs.cgd.3c00388. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.cgd.3c00388