EuS/Hf0.5Zr0.5O2 Bilayers as a Prospective Multiferroic System

Abstract

AbstractComposite bilayer multiferroics combining ferroelectric (FE) and ferromagnetic (FM) thin‐film materials in a heterostructure and exhibiting magnetoelectric (ME) coupling effect are of great scientific and technological interest. In particular, electronically driven ME coupling implies that the FE polarization orientation affects the magnetic properties of FM at the interface with FE. Unlike metals, where the electric field penetrates over distances of 1–2 unit cells only, magnetic semiconductors, particularly doped EuS, with a ≈10 nm screening length appear a viable alternative. In addition, EuS exhibits a metal–insulator transition, thus offering new functionalities in nanoelectronics. Meanwhile, ultrathin polycrystalline films of doped HfO2, such as Hf0.5Zr0.5O2 (HZO), stabilized in the noncentrosymmetric orthorhombic phase, are identified as a novel class of robust FE materials. In this work, FM EuS integrated with FE HZO in a bilayered structure is promoted as a prospective composite multiferroic. The functionality of both ultrathin FM‐EuS and FE‐HZO layers as well as their compatibility in a capacitor configuration is demonstrated. The comprehensive information on the structural, chemical, and electronic properties of EuS/HZO interface endorses it as a promising medium for magnetoelectric coupling phenomena, particularly, the effect of polarization reversal in FE‐HZO on the magnetic and transport properties in EuS.