Atomically Flat Ultrathin Cobalt Ferrite Islands

A route for fabricating structurally perfect cobalt ferrite magnetic nanostructures is demonstrated. Ultrathin islands of up to 100 μm(2) with atomically flat surfaces and free from antiphase boundaries are developed. The extremely low defect concentration leads to a robust magnetic order, even for thicknesses below 1 nm, and exceptionally large magnetic domains. This approach allows the evaluation of the influence of specific extrinsic effects on domain wall pinning.