Bismuth iron garnet Bi3Fe5O12: A room temperature magnetoelectric material

Abstract

The possibility to control the magnetic properties of a material with an electric field at room temperature is highly desirable for modern applications. Moreover, a coupling between magnetic and electric orders within a single material presenting a wide range of exceptional physical properties, such as bismuth iron garnet (BIG), may lead to great advances in the field of spintronic applications. In particular, the combination of the magnetoelectric (ME) coupling with the low damping of spin waves in BIG can allow the control and manipulation of spin waves by an electric field in magnonic devices. Here we report the unambiguous observation of linear magnetoelectric coupling above 300 K in BIG using ferromagnetic resonance technique with electric field modulation. The measured coupling value is comparable with that observed for prototypal magnetoelectric Cr2O3. On the basis of our experimental results, the strength of this linear ME coupling is directly linked to the presence of bismuth ions inducing strong spin orbit coupling and to the appearance of local magnetic inhomogeneities related to the magnetic domain structure. The unprecedented combination of magnetic, optical and magnetoelectrical properties in BIG is expected to trigger significant interest for technological applications as well as for theoretical studies.

Atmosphere‐Induced Reversible Resistivity Changes in Ca/Y‐Doped Bismuth Iron Garnet Thin Films

“…Efficient magneto‐optical (MO) photonic crystals and optical isolators based on BIG systems have already been developed successfully. More recently, a linear magnetoelectric coupling was reported in this system at room temperature and above . However, like all iron garnet phases, stoichiometric BIG is an insulator.…”

Routes to Low-Energy Magnetic Electronics

“…The electric polarization of domain walls can be the result of several microscopic mechanisms: (i) Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya-like interaction 6 due to spinorbit coupling that is enhanced in Bi-rich sample, 7 (ii) the local decompensation of the antiferroelectric structure in the domain wall, [8][9][10] (iii) the nonrelativistic interaction 11 without involving any spinorbit coupling. In the latest case, the polarization of the domain wall is chirality independent.…”

Magnetoresistance of rare-earth-substituted garnet ferrite films

“…A linear magnetoelectric effect [14][15] and the coexistence of current channels with ferroelectric regions were found in bismuth ferrite garnet films, which makes it possible to control the current with a magnetic and electric field.…”