Physical characterization of copper oxide nanowire fabricated via magnetic-field assisted thermal oxidation

Abstract Magnetic fields can alter the growth of nanomaterials and, in some cases, ultimately lead to room temperature ferromagnetism (RTF). One promising approach for the growth of nanomaterials is thermal oxidation with both academic and industrial relevance. In this study, we evaluate the thermal growth of copper oxide ( CuO ) nanowires in a furnace adapted with a static magnetic field (generated by neodymium magnets) upon a pure copper foil in which the direction of a vector perpendicular to the surface of the foil (the direction of nanowires growth) is parallel or antiparallel to the magnetic field direction. Technical analysis including XRD, FESEM and EDAX are performed to provide insight into the CuO nanowire microstructure. To this end, we have made use of statistical surface characteristics such as fractal, autocorrelation and texture aspect ratio analysis demonstrating a correlation between the aforementioned characteristics and the magnetic field orientation. Additionally, VSM studies show the emergence of room temperature ferromagnetism for CuO nanowires grown parallel and antiparallel to the magnetic field. We expect that our approach will open up a new angle on room temperature ferromagnetism for novel fundamental and applied studies.