Mesoscopic bar magnet based on ε-Fe(2)O(3) hard ferrite

Ferrite magnets have a long history. They are used in motors, magnetic fluids, drug delivery systems, etc. Herein we report a mesoscopic ferrite bar magnet based on rod-shaped ε-Fe(2)O(3) with a large coercive field (>25 kOe). The ε-Fe(2)O(3)–based bar magnet is a single crystal with a single magnetic domain along the longitudinal direction. A wide frequency range spectroscopic study shows that the crystallographic a-axis of ε-Fe(2)O(3), which corresponds to the longitudinal direction of the bar magnet, plays an important role in linear and non-linear magneto-optical transitions, phonon modes, and the magnon (Kittel mode). Due to its multiferroic property, a magnetic-responsive non-linear optical sheet is manufactured as an application using an ε-Fe(2)O(3)–based bar magnet, resin, and polyethylene terephthalate. Furthermore, from the viewpoint of the large coercive field property, we demonstrate that a mesoscopic ε-Fe(2)O(3) bar magnet can be used as a magnetic force microscopy probe.