Engineering magnetic
proximity effects-based devices requires developing
efficient magnetic insulators. In particular, insulators, where magnetic
phases show dramatic changes in texture on the nanometric level, could
allow us to tune the proximity-induced exchange splitting at such
distances. In this paper, we report the fabrication and characterization
of highly ordered two-dimensional arrays of LaFeO
3
(LFO)–CoFe
2
O
4
(CFO) biphasic magnetic nanowires, grown on
silicon substrates using a unique combination of bottom-up and top-down
synthesis approaches. The regularity of the patterns was confirmed
using atomic force microscopy and scanning electron microscopy techniques,
whereas magnetic force microscopy images established the magnetic
homogeneity of the patterned nanowires and absence of any magnetic
debris between the wires. Transmission electron microscopy shows a
close spatial correlation between the LFO and CFO phases, indicating
strong grain-to-grain interfacial coupling, intrinsically different
from the usual core–shell structures. Magnetic hysteresis loops
reveal the ferrimagnetic nature of the composites up to room temperature
and the presence of a strong magnetic coupling between the two phases,
and electrical transport measurements demonstrate the strong insulating
behavior of the LFO–CFO composite, which is found to be governed
by Mott-variable range hopping conduction mechanisms. A shift in the
Raman modes in the composite sample compared to those of pure CFO
suggests the existence of strain-mediated elastic coupling between
the two phases in the composite sample. Our work offers ordered composite
nanowires with strong interfacial coupling between the two phases
that can be directly integrated for developing multiphase spin insulatronic
devices and emergent magnetic interfaces.