Growth process and magnetic anisotropy of amorphous La x Zn y O z nanowire arrays

Amorphous La x Zn y O z nanowire arrays with average diameters of 90 nm have been fabricated by chemical co-precipitation under subatmospheric pressure suction filtration in porous anodic aluminium oxide template. The growth process of La x Zn y O z nanowire arrays was investigated through scanning electron microscopy, and the morphology, structure and components of the nanowire arrays were characterised by transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The room temperature hysteresis loops of La x Zn y O z nanowire arrays shows that the ratio of coercive force H c (//)/ H c (⊥) achieved is about 13, and saturation magnetisation M s (//)/ M s (⊥) is 1.3. The nanowire arrays possess obvious magnetic anisotropy arising from the shape anisotropy, and the easily magnetised direction is parallel to the axis of the nanowire arrays, which may determine potential applications on ultra-high-density magnetic memory material.