Deterministic Switching of Perpendicular Magnetic Anisotropy by Voltage Control of Spin Reorientation Transition in (Co/Pt)₃/Pb(Mg_1/3Nb_2/3)O₃–PbTiO₃ Multiferroic Heterostructures

Abstract

One of the central challenges in realizing multiferroics-based magnetoelectric memories is to switch perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) with a control voltage. In this study, we demonstrate electrical flipping of magnetization between the out-of-plane and the in-plane directions in (Co/Pt)/(011) Pb(MgNb)O-PbTiO multiferroic heterostructures through a voltage-controllable spin reorientation transition (SRT). The SRT onset temperature can be dramatically suppressed at least 200 K by applying an electric field, accompanied by a giant electric-field-induced effective magnetic anisotropy field (ΔH) up to 1100 Oe at 100 K. In comparison with conventional strain-mediated magnetoelastic coupling that provides a ΔH of only 110 Oe, that enormous effective field is mainly related to the interface effect of electric field modification of spin-orbit coupling from Co/Pt interfacial hybridization via strain. Moreover, electric field control of SRT is also achieved at room temperature, resulting in a ΔH of nearly 550 Oe. In addition, ferroelastically nonvolatile switching of PMA has been demonstrated in this system. E-field control of PMA and SRT in multiferroic heterostructures not only provides a platform to study strain effect and interfacial effect on magnetic anisotropy of the ultrathin ferromagnetic films but also enables the realization of power efficient PMA magnetoelectric and spintronic devices.

Ionic Gel Modulation of RKKY Interactions in Synthetic Anti‐Ferromagnetic Nanostructures for Low Power Wearable Spintronic Devices

“…However, it is still a significant challenge to maintain good magnetic signal and mechanical stability of magnetic devices when it comes to the flexible substrates, especially for the sophisticated nanostructures like perpendicular SAFs. In this structure, both perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) and RKKY interaction require fine control of the interface properties between layers to guarantee their performances, which is quite challenging in flexible spintronics due to the substrate roughness and surface nonplanarity . Therefore, our fabrication of SAF nanostructures with tunable interlayer exchange coupling (IEC) and PMA on polyimide (i.e., Kapton) and mica substrates is a remarkable step toward flexible spintronic devices.…”

“…This flaw extremely limits their deployments in portable devices . As an alternative, electric field (E‐field) control of magnetism is more promising toward fast, compact, and light‐weighted devices . Nevertheless, the strain/stress‐mediated magnetoelectric coupling in conventional ferromagnetic (FM)/ferroelectric multiferroic heterostructures can hardly be effective on soft substrates.…”

Ionic Modulation of Interfacial Magnetism in Light Metal/Ferromagnetic Insulator Layered Nanostructures

“…This effect can be explained as: the thermal distribution under low temperature is much lower and the ME effect is thereby enhanced relatively. This phenomenon also appears in other multiferroics systems like Ni‐doped LaAlO 3 /SrTiO 3 , perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) structures, etc. As mentioned above, the voltage we applied on the Au electrode was positive and that on the Pt/Cu is negative.…”

Spin Logical and Memory Device Based on the Nonvolatile Ferroelectric Control of the Perpendicular Magnetic Anisotropy in PbZr0.2Ti0.8O3/Co/Pt Heterostructure

“…Over the last decades, the magnetoelectric coupling effect has attracted intensive attention, [ 1–4 ] where the magnetization can be controlled by electric fields while the electric polarization can be controlled by magnetic fields. Multiferroics, where ferroelectricity and ferromagnetism coexist, are important materials [ 5–8 ] as they can produce magnetoelectric effects in a single compound. However, the intrinsic magnetoelectric coupling effect in single‐phase multiferroics is quite weak.…”