Magnetoelectric Coupling in Bismuth Ferrite—Challenges and Perspectives

Srihari N V,K K Nagaraja,K B Vinayakumar

doi:10.3390/coatings10121221

Srihari N V, K K Nagaraja + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/coatings10121221

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Abstract

Multiferroic materials belong to the sub-group of ferroics possessing two or more ferroic orders in the same phase. Aizu first coined the term multiferroics in 1969. Of late, several multiferroic materials’ unique and robust characteristics have shown great potential for various applications. Notably, the coexisting magnetic and electrical ordering results in the Magnetoelectric effect (ME), wherein the electrical polarization can be manipulated by magnetic fields and magnetization by electric fields. Currently, more significant interests lie in significantly enhancing the ME coupling facilitating the realization of Spintronic devices, which makes use of the transport phenomenon of spin-polarized electrons. On the other hand, the magnetoelectric coupling is also pivotal in magnetic memory devices wherein the application of small electric voltage manipulates the magnetic properties of the device. This review gives a brief overview of magnetoelectric coupling in Bismuth ferrite and approaches to achieve higher magnetoelectric coupling and device applications.

Highlights

Magnetoelectric coupling has a long history; it has been a topic of theoretical interest for researchers but is being used as a tool for a variety of practical applications
The relation between the electric and magnetic subsystems can vary among the materials and existing conditions; for instance, Bismuth ferrite theoretically, at room temperature shows quadratic and higher-order relation, while a linear behavior is observed at application with high electric fields or magnetic fields around 10–18 T [1,2], for the bulk and about 3–6 T for thin film samples depending upon their substrate [3]
There have been many review papers related to Bismuth ferrite (BFO) [4,5,6,7] and its magnetoelectric coupling but this paper stands out from the rest in providing theoretical background and practical knowledge needed in a way that could be understood by a reader who is even new to the topic

Summary

Introduction

Magnetoelectric coupling has a long history; it has been a topic of theoretical interest for researchers but is being used as a tool for a variety of practical applications. There have been many review papers related to Bismuth ferrite (BFO) [4,5,6,7] and its magnetoelectric coupling but this paper stands out from the rest in providing theoretical background and practical knowledge needed in a way that could be understood by a reader who is even new to the topic. The idea of the existence of ferromagnetic and ferroelectric crystals originated from experimentally discovered later by Astrov. [10].Ferroelectric discovered by Valasek in as it was paraelectric and antiferromagnetic, leading to discoveries into boracites. 1920 [23] and magnetoelectricity was first understood theoretically by Dzyaloshinskii [12] for Cr2O3 even and boracites were impractical for application as they low symmetry with large unit cells and was experimentally discovered later by Astrov [24].had.

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