Electrically enhanced magnetization in highly strained BiFeO3 films
Source abstract
Abstract
The control of magnetism via an electric field has attracted substantial attention because of potential applications in magnetoelectronics, spintronics and high-frequency devices. In this study, we demonstrate a new approach to enhance and control the magnetization of multiferroic thin film by an electric stimulus. First, to reduce the strength of the antiferromagnetic superexchange interaction in BiFeO3, we applied strain engineering to stabilize a highly strained phase. Second, the direction of the ferroelectric polarization was controlled by an electric field to enhance the Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction in the highly strained BiFeO3 phase. Because of the magnetoelectric coupling in BiFeO3, a strong correlation between the modulated ferroelectricity and enhanced magnetization was observed. The tunability of this strong correlation by an electric field provides an intriguing route to control ferromagnetism in a single-phase multiferroic. A highly strained thin film that switches magnetic spins using electricity may advance low-power spintronic technology. Multiferroics are magnets that also have permanent electric polarization — a combination that can enable spins to be used in logic or memory devices if the electric and magnetic coupling forces are strong enough. Now, Ying-Hao Chu of National Chiao Tung University in Taiwan and co-workers have boosted the naturally weak magnetism of the multiferroic material bismuth ferrite (BiFeO3) by depositing it as a thin film on neodymium-based crystals. The significant epitaxial strain between the lattice-mismatched interfaces induced spontaneous magnetization, which could be enhanced by applying electric fields. Perfectly aligned nanoscale magnetic patterns were generated when a modest voltage was applied to the highly distorted BiFeO3 thin films via an atomic force microscope tip. Electrical control of the spin degree of freedom has enabled various vital applications in modern electronic devices, ranging from magnetoelectronics and spintronics to high-frequency devices. We demonstrate a new approach to ‘write’ enhanced magnetization in a single-phase multiferroic thin film by the application of an electric field. The induced magnetization can be controlled with nanoscopic precision via the assistance of scanning probe techniques, thus offering high potential for use in multifunctional, low power consumption and green nanoelectronics.
Source: openalex_inverted_index · Quality: baseline
Research context
OpenAlex topics: Multiferroics and related materials · Ferroelectric and Piezoelectric Materials · Magnetic and transport properties of perovskites and related materials
SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.
References (37)
Show source-provided references
1. Spaldin, N. A. & Fiebig, M. The renaissance of magnetoelectric multiferroics. Science 309, 391–392 (2005).10.1126/science.1113357 ↗
2. Eerenstein, W., Mathur, N. D. & Scott, J. F. Multiferroic and magnetoelectric materials. Nature 442, 759–765 (2006).10.1038/nature05023 ↗
3. Lebeugle, D., Colson, D., Forget, A., Viret, M., Bataille, A. M. & Gukasov, A Electric-field-induced spin flop in BiFeO3 single crystals at room temperature. Phys. Rev. Lett. 100, 227602 (2008).10.1103/PhysRevLett.100.227602 ↗
4. Lee, S., Ratcliff, W., Cheong, S. W. & Kiryukhin, V. Electric field control of the magnetic state in BiFeO3 single crystals. Appl. Phys. Lett. 92, 192906 (2008).10.1063/1.2930678 ↗
5. Lottermoser, T., Lonkai, T., Amann, U., Hohlwein, D., Ihringer, J. & Fiebig, M. Magnetic phase control by an electric field. Nature 430, 541–544 (2004).10.1038/nature02728 ↗
6. Ramesh, R. & Spaldin, N. A. Multiferroics: progress and prospects in thin films. Nat. Mater. 6, 21–29 (2007).10.1038/nmat1805 ↗
7. Cheong, S. W. & Mostovoy, M. Multiferroics: a magnetic twist for ferroelectricity. Nat. Mater. 6, 13–20 (2007).10.1038/nmat1804 ↗
8. Scott, J. F. Room-temperature multiferroic magnetoelectrics. NPG Asia Mater. 5, e72 (2013).10.1038/am.2013.58 ↗
9. Fusil, S., Garcia, V., Barthelemy, A. & Bibes, M. Magnetoelectric devices for spintronics. Annu. Rev. Mater. Res. 44, 91–116 (2014).10.1146/annurev-matsci-070813-113315 ↗
10. Bibes, M. & Barthélémy, A. Multiferroics: towards a magnetoelectric memory. Nat. Mater. 7, 425–426 (2008).10.1038/nmat2189 ↗
11. Ma, J., Hu, J., Li, Z. & Nan, C. W. Recent progress in multiferroic magnetoelectric composites: from bulk to thin films. Adv. Mater. 23, 1062 (2011).10.1002/adma.201003636 ↗
12. Heron, J. T., Trassin, M., Ashraf, K., Gajek, M., He, Q., Yang, S. Y, Nikonov, D. E., Chu, Y. H., Salahuddin, S. & Ramesh, R. Electric-field-induced magnetization reversal in a ferromagnetic-multiferroic heterostructure. Phys. Rev. Lett. 107, 217202 (2011).10.1103/PhysRevLett.107.217202 ↗
13. Martin, L. W., Chu, Y. H. & Ramesh, R. Advances in the growth and characterization of magnetic, ferroelectric, and multiferroic oxide thin films. Mater. Sci. Eng. R Rep. 68, 89–134 (2010).10.1016/j.mser.2010.03.001 ↗
14. Kimura, T., Goto, T., Shintani, H., Ishizaka, K., Arima, T. & Tokura, Y. Magnetic control of ferroelectric polarization. Nature 426, 55–58 (2003).10.1038/nature02018 ↗
15. Aken, B. B. V., Palstra, T. T. M., Filippetti, A. & Spaldin, N. A. The origin of ferroelectricity in magnetoelectric YMnO3 . Nat. Mater. 3, 164–170 (2004).10.1038/nmat1080 ↗
16. Lin, Y. H., Yuan, J., Zhang, S., Zhang, Y., Liu, J., Wang, Y. & Nan, C. W. Multiferroic behavior observed in highly orientated Mn-doped BaTiO3 thin films. Appl. Phys. Lett. 95, 033105 (2009).10.1063/1.3182793 ↗
17. Ramana, E. V., Yang, S. M., Jung, R., Jung, M. H., Lee, B. W. & Jung, C. U. Ferroelectric and magnetic properties of Fe-doped BaTiO3 thin films grown by the pulsed laser deposition. J. Appl. Phys. 113, 187219 (2013).10.1063/1.4801965 ↗
18. Apostolova, I. N., Apostolov, A. T., Bahoosh, S. G., Bahoosh, S., J. M. & Wesselinowa Origin of ferromagnetism in transition metal doped BaTiO3 . J. Appl. Phys. 113, 203904 (2013).10.1063/1.4807412 ↗
19. Zhao, T., Scholl, A., Zavaliche, F., Lee, K., Barry, M., Doran, A., Cruz, M. P., Chu, Y. H., Ederer, C., Spaldin, N. A., Das, R. R., Kim, D. M., Baek, S. H., Eom, C. B. & Ramesh, R. Electrical control of antiferromagnetic domains in multiferroic BiFeO3 films at room temperature. Nat. Mater. 5, 823–829 (2007).10.1038/nmat1731 ↗
20. Ederer, C. & Spaldin, N. A. Weak ferromagnetism and magnetoelectric coupling in bismuth ferrite. Phys. Rev. B 71, 060401(R) (2005).10.1103/PhysRevB.71.060401 ↗
21. Martin, L. W., Chu, Y. H., Holcomb, M. B., Huijben, M., Yu, P., Han, S. J, Lee, D, Wang, S. X. & Ramesh, R. Nanoscale control of exchange bias with BiFeO3 thin films. Nano Lett. 8, 2050–2055 (2008).10.1021/nl801391m ↗
22. Damodaran, A. R., Liang, C. W., He, Q., Peng, C. Y., Chang, L., Chu, Y. H. & Martin, L. W. Nanoscale structure and mechanism for enhanced electromechanical response of highly strained BiFeO3 thin films. Adv. Mater. 23, 3170–3175 (2011).10.1002/adma.201101164 ↗
23. He, Q., Chu, Y. H., Heron, J. T., Yang, S. Y., Liang, W. I., Kuo, C. Y, Lin, H. J., Yu, P., Liang, C. W., Zeches, R. J., Kuo, W. C., Juang, J. Y., Chen, C. T., Arenholz, E., Scholl, A. & Ramesh, R. Electrically controllable spontaneous magnetism in nanoscale mixed phase multiferroics. Nat. Commun. 2, 225 (2011).10.1038/ncomms1221 ↗
24. Nolting, F., Scholl, A., Stohr, J., Seo, J. W., Fompeyrine, J., Siegwart, H., Locquet, J. P., Anders, S., Luning, J., Fullerton, E. E., Toney, M. F., Scheinfein, M. R. & Padmore, H. A. Direct observation of the alignment of ferromagnetic spins by antiferromagnetic spins. Nature 405, 767–769 (2000).10.1038/35015515 ↗
25. Csiszar, S. I., Haverkort, M. W., Hu, Z., Tanaka, A., Hsieh, H. H., Lin, H. J, Chen, C. T., Hibma, T. & Tjeng, L. H. Controlling orbital moment and spin orientation in CoO layers by strain. Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 187205 (2005).10.1103/PhysRevLett.95.187205 ↗
26. Hollmann, N., Hu, Z., Willers, T., Bohatý, L., Becker, P., Tanaka, A., Hsieh, H. H., Lin, H.-J., Chen, C. T. & Tjeng, L. H. Local symmetry and magnetic anisotropy in multiferroic MnWO4 and antiferromagnetic CoWO4 studied by soft X-ray absorption spectroscopy. Phys. Rev. B 82, 184429 (2010).10.1103/PhysRevB.82.184429 ↗
27. Ko, K. T., Jung, M. H., He, Q., Lee, J. H., Woo, C. S., Chu, K., Seidel, J., Jeon, B. G., Oh, Y. S., Kim, K. H., Liang, W. I., Chen, H. J., Chu, Y. H., Jeong, Y. H., Ramesh, R., Park, J. H. & Yang, C. H. Concurrent transition of ferroelectric and magnetic ordering around room temperature. Nat. Commun. 2, 567 (2011).10.1038/ncomms1576 ↗
28. Maekawa, S., Tohyama, T., Barnes, S. E., Ishihara, S., Koshibae, W. & Khaliullin, G. in Physics of Transition Metal Oxides. (Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, Germany, 2004).10.1007/978-3-662-09298-9 ↗
29. Zeches, R. J., Rossell, M. D., Zhang, J. X., Hatt, A. J., He, Q., Yang, C. H, Kumar, A., Wang, C. H., Melville, A., Adamo, C., Sheng, G., Chu, Y. H., Ihlefeld, J. F., Erni, R., Ederer, C., Gopalan, V., Chen, L. Q., Schlom, D. G., Spaldin, N. A., Martin, L. W. & Ramesh, R. A strain-driven morphotropic phase boundary in BiFeO3 . Science 326, 977–980 (2009).10.1126/science.1177046 ↗
30. Chu, Y. H., Martin, L. W., Holcomb, M. B., Gajek, M., Han, S. J., He, Q., Balke, N., Yang, C. H., Lee, D., Hu, W., Zhan, Q., Yang, P. L., Fraile-Rodríguez, A., Scholl, A., Wang, S. X. & Ramesh, R. Electrical-field control of local ferromagnetism using a magnetoelectric multiferroic. Nat. Mater. 7, 478–482 (2008).10.1038/nmat2184 ↗
31. Heron, J. T, Bosse, J. L., He, Q., Gao, Y., Trassin, M., Ye, L., Clarkson, J. D., Wang, C., Liu, J., Salahuddin, S., Ralph, D. C., Schlom, D. G., Iñiguez, J., Huey, B. D. & Ramesh, R. Deterministic switching of ferromagnetism at room temperature using an electric field. Nature 516, 370–373 (2014).10.1038/nature14004 ↗
32. Kresse, G. & Furthmuller, J. Efficiency of ab-initio total energy calculations for metals and semiconductors using a plane-wave basis set. Comput. Mater. Sci. 6, 15–50 (1996).10.1016/0927-0256(96)00008-0 ↗
33. Perdew, J. P., Burke, K. & Ernzerhof, M. Generalized gradient approximation made simple. Phys. Rev. Lett. 77, 3865–3868 (1996).10.1103/PhysRevLett.77.3865 ↗
34. Dudarev, S. L., Botton, G. A., Savrasov, S. Y., Humphreys, C. J. & Sutton, A. P. Electron-energy-loss spectra and the structural stability of nickel oxide: An LSDA+U study. Phys. Rev. B 57, 1505–1509 (1998).10.1103/PhysRevB.57.1505 ↗
35. Hatt, A. J. & Spaldin, N. A. Strain-induced isosymmetric phase transition in BiFeO3 . Phys. Rev. B 81, 054109–054113 (2010).10.1103/PhysRevB.81.054109 ↗
36. Moriya, T. Anisotropic superexchange interaction and weak ferromagnetism. Phys. Rev. 120, 91–98 (1960).10.1103/PhysRev.120.91 ↗
37. Ederer, C. & Spaldin, N. A. Electric-field-switchable magnets: the case of BaNiF4 . Phys. Rev. B 74, 020401–020404 (2006).10.1103/PhysRevB.74.020401 ↗