Chemical solution deposition of magnetoelectric ZnO–La₂CoMnO₆ nanocomposite thin films using a single precursor solution

We report a chemical solution deposition method for fabricating magnetoelectric ZnO–La₂CoMnO₆ (LCMO) nanocomposite films on platinum coated silicon (Pt/Si) substrates. A single precursor coating solution containing all constituent cations (Zn²⁺, La³⁺, Co²⁺, and Mn²⁺) was prepared by dissolving acetate and nitrate raw materials in 2-metoxyethanol in the presence of monoethanolamine. Investigations of decomposition and crystallization behaviors of a dried powder prepared from the ZnO–LCMO precursor solution revealed that a crystalline phase of ZnO first appeared at a low temperature below 400 °C followed by crystallization of LCMO at a much higher temperature. A film coated on a ZnO-seeded Pt/Si substrate was found to have a characteristic vertical nanocomposite structure composed of c-axis oriented ZnO columns and LCMO nanograins. The ZnO–LCMO film exhibited ferromagnetic properties originating from the LCMO phase. A converse magnetoelectric measurement at a temperature of 10 K demonstrated that the magnetization of the film at 45 kOe was decreased by 9% by application of an external electric field of 100 kV/cm.