Electric Field Control Of Magnetism Research Articles

Electric-field control of magnetism

Abstract

Electric field control of magnetism in Si3N4 gated Pt/Co/Pt heterostructures

In this work, we show the presence of a magnetoelectric coupling in silicon-nitride gated Pt/Co/Pt heterostructures using X-ray photoemission electron microscopy. We observe a change in magnetic anisotropy in the form of domain wall nucleation and a change in the rate of domain wall fluctuation as a function of the applied electric field to the sample. We also observe the coexistence of in-plane and out-of-plane magnetization in Pt/Co/Pt heterostructures in a region around the spin reorientation transition whose formation is attributed to substrate surface roughness comparable to the film thickness; with such domain configuration, we find that the in-plane magnetization is more sensitive to the applied electric field than out-of-plane magnetization. Although we find an effective magnetoelectric coupling in our system, the presence of charge defects in the silicon nitride membranes hampers the systematic electrostatic control of the magnetization.

Selective control of magnetism in FeAl/PIN-PMN-PT using an electric field

Mediating nonvolatile magnetism by purely electrical methods is a crucial challenge for the development of high-density and low energy consumption information storage. Research into most material systems, including ferromagnetic /ferroelectric heterostructures and, especially, magnetostriction/lead magnesium niobate-lead titanate (PMN-PT), has focused mainly on the nonvolatile strain-mediated converse magnetoelectric (ME) effect. The recent discovery of a type of FeAl/lead indium niobate (PIN)-PMN-PT heterostructure has provided an approach for electrical control of magnetism at room temperature. We demonstrate selective control of nonvolatile magnetism in (001)- and (111)-oriented FeAl/PIN-PMN-PT. In order to illustrate the behavior of electric field control of magnetism in (111)-oriented PIN-PMN-PT, a converse ME coupling mechanism is presented via polarization switching models. This mechanism indicates that the magnetization process is related to both the direction of polarization switching and the strain-mediated effect. By controlling the piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM) scan direction and analyzing the color contrast of the PFM images, we confirm the validity of the proposed models of polarization switching and demonstrate the validity of the mechanism. The results of this study may offer a method for the selective control of magnetism in nonvolatile multilevel data storage.

Switching on superferromagnetism

Electric-field control of magnetism has emerged as a potential approach for low-power consumption spintronics. Although recent results in multiferroic systems have shown the possibility to manipulate the magnetic state of magnetic materials deposited on ferroelectric substrates by means of electric fields, the resulting magnetic state is multidomain in nature. For real multiferroic devices to become a true single magnetic domain state, lower dimensionality is required. In this work, the authors show, for an assemble of iron nanograins deposited on top of a BaTiO${}_{3}$ substrate, that an electric field-induced strain is capable of switching on a collective long-range ferromagnetic order (superferromagnetism) on an otherwise zero-dimensional superparamagnetic nanoparticle system. The effect, observed slightly above room temperature, holds promise for the implementation of nanoscale multiferroic systems in spin-based storage and logic architectures operating at ambient conditions.

Tailoring Magnetoelectric Coupling in BiFeO3 /La0.7 Sr0.3 MnO3 Heterostructure through the Interface Engineering.

Electric field control of magnetism ultimately opens up the possibility of reducing energy consumption of memory and logic devices. Electric control of magnetization and exchange bias are demonstrated in all-oxide heterostructures of BiFeO3 (BFO) and La0.7 Sr0.3 MnO3 (LSMO). However, the role of the polar heterointerface on magnetoelectric (ME) coupling is not fully explored. Here, the ME coupling in BFO/LSMO heterostructures with two types of interfaces, achieved by exploiting the interface engineering at the atomic scale, is investigated. It is shown that both magnetization and exchange bias are reversibly controlled by switching the ferroelectric polarization of BFO. Intriguingly, distinctly different modulation behaviors that depend on the interfacial atomic sequence are observed. These results provide new insights into the underlying physics of ME coupling in the model system. This study highlights that designing interface at the atomic scale is of general importance for functional spintronic devices.

Surface-Engineered MXenes: Electric Field Control of Magnetism and Enhanced Magnetic Anisotropy.

Controlling magnetism in two-dimensional (2D) materials via electric fields and doping enables robust long-range order by providing an external mechanism to modulate magnetic exchange interactions and anisotropy. In this report, we predict that transition metal carbide and nitride MXenes are promising candidates for controllable magnetic 2D materials. The surface terminations introduced during synthesis act as chemical dopants that influence the electronic structure, enabling controllable magnetic order. We show ground-state magnetic ordering in Janus M2XO xF2- x (M is an early transition metal, X is carbon or nitrogen, and x = 0.5, 1, or 1.5) with asymmetric surface functionalization, where local structural and chemical disorder induces magnetic ordering in some systems that are nonmagnetic or weakly magnetic in their pristine form. The resulting magnetic states of these noncentrosymmetric structures can be robustly switched and stabilized by tuning the interlayer exchange couplings with small applied electric fields. Furthermore, bond directionality is enhanced by Janus functionalization, resulting in improved magnetic anisotropy, which is essential to stable 2D magnetic ordering. The mixed termination-induced anisotropy leads to robust Ising ferromagnetism with an out-of-plane easy axis over the full range of relevant termination compositions for Janus Mn2N. Janus Cr2C, V2C, and Ti2C were found to be robustly antiferromagnetic. Our results provide a strategy for exploiting asymmetric surface functionalization to achieve room-temperature nanoscale magnetism under ambient conditions in MXenes with currently available synthesis techniques.

Loss of spin polarization in ferromagnet/ferroelectric tunnel junctions due to screening effects

Electric field control of magnetization allows further miniaturization of integrated circuits for binary bit processing and data storage as it eliminates the need for bulky sophisticated systems to induce magnetic fields. Magnetoelectric coupling inherent to the bulk of multiferroic films or control of spin orientation in magnetic layers via piezoelectric strain in dual component composites have been two approaches standing out. Another magnetoelectric effect is spin-dependent screening that occurs at dielectric/ferromagnet interfaces which is of great importance for spin selective tunnel junctions. Here, we analyze the spin-dependent screening of ferroelectric polarization in a film interfacing ferromagnetic electrodes using the continuity equations in continuum media. The competition between the electrostatic and the magnetochemical potential in the FM electrodes gives rise to a reduction in the net magnetic moment near the interface due to spin mixing, extending to a distance comparable to the Thomas–Fermi screening length. Our continuum media treatment shows that the local spin population in spin subbands near the interfaces can dramatically deviate from bulk, which is in qualitative agreement with recent first principles results. We compute the tunneling currents for the majority and minority spins using the Wentzel–Kramers–Brillouin approximation as a function of ferroelectric polarization. We find that the spin polarization tends to disappear for increasing values of ferroelectric polarization in direct connection with the increase in subband spin population for minority spins at the interface.

Effect of Electric Field on the Exchange-Stiffness Constant in a Co12Fe72B16 Disk-Shaped Nanomagnet 65 nm in Diameter

Electric field control of magnetism in metallic ferromagnets continues to receive close scrutiny for ultralow-energy spintronic devices. This study uses thermally excited ferromagnetic resonance to investigate the electric field effect on sub-100-nm magnetic tunnel junctions. The characteristic appearance of saturation magnetization, exchange-stiffness constant, and uniaxial perpendicular magnetic anisotropy in the mode-frequency splitting provides an effective means to selectively analyze the electric field effect on the exchange-stiffness constant. This insight is useful for controlling domain size, ${T}_{C}$, and other magnetic properties with an electric field.

Recent development and status of magnetoelectric materials and devices

The magnetoelectric (ME) materials and related devices have been attracting increasing research attention over the last few years. They exhibit strong ME coupling effect at room temperature, and electric field control of magnetization or magnetic field control of ferroelectric polarization can be achieved. The ME coupling effect brings novel functionalities to develop ultra-fast, low-power, and miniaturized electronics. Recent progress shows the performance of ME materials is further improved and the materials are used to develop many new types of electronics such as high-speed memory, radio frequency resonator, compact ME antenna, and weak magnetic field sensor. In this review, we present the overview in those fields with emphasis on both the opportunities and challenges for the application of ME materials and devices in the cutting-edge technologies.

Perspective: Magnetoelectric switching in thin film multiferroic heterostructures

Since the resurgence of multiferroics research, significant advancement has been made in the theoretical and experimental investigation of the electric field control of magnetization, magnetic anisotropy, magnetic phase, magnetic domains, and Curie temperature in multiferroic heterostructures. As a result of these advances, multiferroic heterostructures are on a trajectory to impact spintronics applications through the significantly reduced energy consumption per unit area for magnetization switching (1–500 μJ cm−2) when compared to that of current-driven magnetization switching (0.2–10 mJ cm−2). Considering this potential impact, it becomes necessary to understand magnetoelectric switching dynamics and characteristic switching times. The body of experimental work investigating magnetoelectric switching dynamics is rather limited, with the majority of room temperature converse magnetoelectric switching measurements reported having employed relatively long voltage pulses. Recently, however, the field has started to consider the kinetics of the switching path in multiferroic (and ferroelectric) switching. Excitingly, the results are challenging our understanding of switching processes while offering new opportunities to engineer the magnetoelectric effect. Considering the prospects of multiferroics for beyond-CMOS applications and the possible influence on operational speed, much remains to be understood regarding magnetoelectric switching kinetics and dynamics, particularly at reduced dimensions and under the influence of boundary effects resulting from strain, electrostatics, and orientation. In this article, we review magnetoelectric switching in multiferroic heterostructures for the electric field control of magnetism. We then offer perspectives moving toward the goal of low energy-delay spintronics for computational applications.

Electric-Field-Controlled Nonvolatile Magnetization Rotation and Magnetoresistance Effect in Co/Cu/Ni Spin Valves on Piezoelectric Substrates.

Electric-field control of magnetism is a key issue for the future development of low-power spintronic devices. By utilizing the opposite strain responses of the magnetic anisotropies in Co and Ni films, a Co/Cu/Ni/0.7Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3-0.3PbTiO3 (PMN-PT) spin-valve/piezoelectric heterostructure with ∼7 nm Cu spacer layer was properly designed and fabricated. The purely electric-field-controlled nonvolatile and reversible magnetization rotations in the Co free layer were achieved, whereas the magnetization of the Ni fixed layer was almost unchanged. Accordingly, not only the electroresistance but also the electric-field-tuned magnetoresistance effects were obtained, and more importantly at least six nonvolatile magnetoresistance states in the strain-tuned spin valve were achieved by setting the PMN-PT into different nonvolatile piezo-strain states. These findings highlight potential strategies for designing electric-field-driven multistate spintronic devices.

Low-Voltage Control of (Co/Pt) x Perpendicular Magnetic Anisotropy Heterostructure for Flexible Spintronics.

The trend of mobile Internet requires portable and wearable devices as bio-device interfaces. Electric field control of magnetism is a promising approach to achieve compact, light-weight, and energy-efficient wearable devices. Within a flexible sandwich heterostructure, perpendicular magnetic anisotropy switching was achieved via low-voltage gating control of an ionic gel in mica/Ta/(Pt/Co) x/Pt/ionic gel/Pt, where (Pt/Co) x acted as a functional layer. By conducting in situ VSM, EPR, and MOKE measurements, a 1098 Oe magnetic anisotropy field change was determined at the bending state with tensile strain, corresponding to a magnetic anisotropy energy change of 3.16 × 105 J/m3 and a giant voltage tunability coefficient of 0.79 × 105 J/m3·V. The low voltage and strain dual control of magnetism on mica substrates enables tunable flexible spintronic devices with an increased degree of manipulation.

Exchange bias in tetragonal-like BiFeO3/Sr2FeMoO6 bilayer

Exchange bias in the bilayer of half-metallic La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 and multiferroic BiFeO3 has been applied for the electric field control of magnetization, which is strongly limited by the much low blocking temperature of about 100 K (Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, 027201 (2010)). One possible solution is to strengthen the interfacial exchange coupling, thus another half-metallic oxide Sr2FeMoO6 is selected. Tetragonal-like BiFeO3 has been successfully fabricated on (0 0 1) SrTiO3 substrate using Sr2FeMoO6 as buffer layer. By replacing the exchange coupling between Fe and Mn ions in BiFeO3/La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 bilayer, stronger exchange couplings between Fe and Fe ions are established at the interface, and the blocking temperature has been significantly increased to 160 K. A second blocking temperature at 110 K due to the exchange coupling between Fe and Mo ions is also observed. Detailed magnetization measurements confirm the conventional mechanism of exchange coupling between ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic layers and exclude the contribution from surface spin glass. Furthermore, BiFeO3 still retains excellent ferroelectric properties with Sr2FeMoO6 acting as ferromagnetic conducting electrode, which may have important applications in multiferroic spintronics devices.

Design of a Vertical Composite Thin Film System with Ultralow Leakage To Yield Large Converse Magnetoelectric Effect.

Electric field control of magnetism is a critical future technology for low-power, ultrahigh density memory. However, despite intensive research efforts, no practical material systems have emerged. Interface-coupled, composite systems containing ferroelectric and ferri-/ferromagnetic elements have been widely explored, but they have a range of problems, for example, substrate clamping, large leakage, and inability to miniaturize. In this work, through careful material selection, design, and nanoengineering, a high-performance room-temperature magnetoelectric system is demonstrated. The clamping problem is overcome by using a vertically aligned nanocomposite structure in which the strain coupling is independent of the substrate. To overcome the leakage problem, three key novel advances are introduced: a low leakage ferroelectric, Na0.5Bi0.5TiO3; ferroelectric-ferrimagnetic vertical interfaces which are not conducting; and current blockage via a rectifying interface between the film and the Nb-doped SrTiO3 substrate. The new multiferroic nanocomposite (Na0.5Bi0.5TiO3-CoFe2O4) thin-film system enables, for the first time, large-scale in situ electric field control of magnetic anisotropy at room temperature in a system applicable for magnetoelectric random access memory, with a magnetoelectric coefficient of 1.25 × 10-9 s m-1.

Designing switchable near room-temperature multiferroics via the discovery of a novel magnetoelectric coupling

Magnetoelectric (ME) coupling is the key ingredient for realizing the cross-control of magnetism and ferroelectricity in multiferroics. However, multiferroics are not only rare, especially at room-temperature, in nature but also the overwhelming majority of known multiferroics do not exhibit highly-desired switching of the direction of magnetization when the polarization is reversed by an electric field. Here, we report group theory analysis and ab initio calculations demonstrating, and revealing the origin of, the existence of a novel form of ME coupling term in a specific class of materials that does allow such switching. This term naturally explains the previously observed electric field control of magnetism in the first known multiferroics, i.e., the Ni–X boracite family. It is also presently used to design a switchable near room-temperature multiferroic (namely, LaSrMnOsO6 perovskite) having rather large ferroelectric polarization and spontaneous magnetization, as well as strong ME coupling.

Cyclable and non-volatile electric field control of magnetism in BiFeO3 based magnetoelectric heterostructures

Room temperature manipulation of the ferromagnetic state via an electric field is investigated in Ni/BiFe0.95Mn0.05O3 thin film heterostructures. A 600% increase in the magnetic coercive field of the Ni layer is observed at the initial DC electrical poling of the ferroelectric BiFe0.95Mn0.05O3 layer. The magnetoelectric effect is remanent, and the magnetic coercive field can be modulated between a low value and a high value by successively switching the ferroelectric polarization. After the initial poling, the coercive field difference is decreased by subsequent back and forth switching. However, the magnetic bi-stability is preserved at least up to 250 cycles, which is promising for spintronic applications.

A multi-scale and multi-field coupling nonlinear constitutive theory for the layered magnetoelectric composites

The magnetic, electric and mechanical behaviors are strongly coupled in magnetoelectric (ME) materials, making them great promising in the application of functional devices. In this paper, the magneto-electro-mechanical fully coupled constitutive behaviors of ME laminates are systematically studied both theoretically and experimentally. A new probabilistic domain switching function considering the surface ferromagnetic anisotropy and the interface charge-mediated effect is proposed. Then a multi-scale multi-field coupling nonlinear constitutive model for layered ME composites is developed with physical measureable parameters. The experiments were performed to compare the theoretical predictions with the experimental data. The theoretical predictions have a good agreement with experimental results. The proposed constitutive relation can be used to describe the nonlinear multi-field coupling properties of both ME laminates and thin films. Several novel coupling experimental phenomena such as the electric-field control of magnetization, and the magnetic-field tuning of polarization are observed and analyzed. Furthermore, the size-effect of the electric tuning behavior of magnetization is predicted, which demonstrates a competition mechanism between the interface strain-mediated effect and the charge-driven effect. Our study offers deep insight into the coupling microscopic mechanism and macroscopic properties of ME layered composites, which is benefit for the design of electromagnetic functional devices.

Effect of ferromagnetic exchange field on band gap and spin polarisation of graphene on a TMD substrate

We calculate the electronic band dispersion of graphene monolayer on a two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenide substrate (GrTMD) around K and $$\mathbf{K}^{\prime }$$ points by taking into account the interplay of the ferromagnetic impurities and the substrate-induced interactions. The latter are (strongly enhanced) intrinsic spin–orbit interaction (SOI), the extrinsic Rashba spin–orbit interaction (RSOI) and the one related to the transfer of the electronic charge from graphene to substrate. We introduce exchange field (M) in the Hamiltonian to take into account the deposition of magnetic impurities on the graphene surface. The cavalcade of the perturbations yield particle–hole symmetric band dispersion with an effective Zeeman field due to the interplay of the substrate-induced interactions with RSOI as the prime player. Our graphical analysis with extremely low-lying states strongly suggests the following: The GrTMDs, such as graphene on $$\hbox {WY}_{2}$$ , exhibit (direct) band-gap narrowing / widening (Moss–Burstein (MB) gap shift) including the increase in spin polarisation (P) at low temperature due to the increase in the exchange field (M) at the Dirac points. The polarisation is found to be electric field tunable as well. Finally, there is anticrossing of non-parabolic bands with opposite spins, the gap closing with same spins, etc. around the Dirac points. A direct electric field control of magnetism at the nanoscale is needed here. The magnetic multiferroics, like $$\hbox {BiFeO}_{3}$$ (BFO), are useful for this purpose due to the coupling between the magnetic and electric order parameters.

Progress of converse magnetoelectric coupling effect in multiferroic heterostructures

Electric-field control of magnetism has recently received much attention because of low-power consumption, which has potential applications in low-power multifunction devices. Ferromagnetic/ferroelectric multiferroic heterostructure is a useful way to realize the electric-field control of magnetism. Strain-mediated magnetoelectric coupling with large magnetoelectric coupling coefficient at room temperature is one of the current research hotspot. In this paper, we give an overview of recent progress of strain-mediated magnetoelectric coupling in multiferroic heterostructures.This review paper consists of five parts:introduction of multiferroics, electric-field control of magnetism in multiferroic heterostructures, electrical control of magnetization reversal, electric-field control of magnetic tunnel junctions, and the future prospects of multiferroic heterostructures. The basic concepts of multiferroics and background of magnetoelectric coupling effect are introduced in the first part.In the second part, a brief review of the recent work on the Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)0.7Ti0.3O3 (PMN-PT) based multiferroic heterostructures is given. The PMN-PT has a FE domain structure, which plays a vital role in electric-field control of magnetism, especially the 109 domain switching. For PMN-PT (001), the importance of 109 domain switching on the nonvolatile electrical control of magnetism is discussed. For PMN-PT (011), it is shown how to obtain nonvolatile strain which induces magnetic easy axis to be rotated by 90. The work on electric-field modulation of ferromagnetic material with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy is also mentioned.Electric-field control of magnetization reversal is still a challenge and remains elusive. Combination of strain-mediated magnetoelectric coupling and exchanging bias is a promising method to reverse magnetization by electric field, and the exchange-biased system/ferroelectric structures are given in the third part. There are also some theoretical attempts and proposals to realize the electrical control of 180 magnetization reversal. Then the method to manipulate magnetic tunnel junctions by electric field is given through integrating multiferroics and spintronics. Further outlook of the multiferroic heterostructures is also presented finally.

Electric field driven magnetic switching in nanoscale multiferroic heterostructures

Recently, there has been a surge of research interest in the electric field control of magnetism due to its promising application in spintronic and memory devices, which has become a hot topic in the field of multiferroic research. In current spintronic technology, magnetic reversal is usually driven by a large electric current via current generated magnetic field or spin-torque effect to write/erase a magnetic bit, and thus producing large power consumption and heat dissipation. While using insulating multiferroic materials, the reversal of magnetization can be triggered by applying an electric field instead of current, hence dramatically reducing the energy consumption and heat dissipation. With the current miniature trend in microelectronic technology, it is very essential to explore the electric field driven magnetic reversal (EFMS) behaviours in a micro/nanometer scale. In this article we briefly review the new progress in the field of EFMS based on multiferroic heterostructures, including some new features arising from size reduction, as well as some recent experimental and theoretical advances towards nanoscale EFMS, e.g. strain-mediated coupling, or spin exchange coupling in BiFeO3-based heterostructures, and their associated mechanisms. Finally, some key challenges in developing future EFMS based magnetoelectric devices, and some prospects for future research are also discussed.