Electric field control of magnetic states in isolated and dipole-coupled FeGa nanomagnets delineated on a PMN-PT substrate

Abstract

We report observation of a ‘non-volatile’ converse magneto-electric effect in elliptical FeGa nanomagnets delineated on a piezoelectric PMN-PT substrate. The nanomagnets are first magnetized with a magnetic field directed along their nominal major axes. Subsequent application of a strong electric field across the piezoelectric substrate generates strain in the substrate, which is partially transferred to the nanomagnets and rotates the magnetizations of some of them away from their initial orientations. The rotated magnetizations remain in their new orientations after the field is removed, resulting in ‘non-volatility’. In isolated nanomagnets, the magnetization rotates by upon application of the electric field, but in a dipole-coupled pair consisting of one ‘hard’ and one ‘soft’ nanomagnet, which are both initially magnetized in the same direction by the magnetic field, the soft nanomagnet’s magnetization rotates by upon application of the electric field because of the dipole influence of the hard nanomagnet. This effect can be utilized for a nanomagnetic NOT logic gate.