Surface-effect enhanced magneto-electric coupling in FePt/PMN-PT multiferroic heterostructures

A series of FePt films with different film thickness are deposited on Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3–PbTiO3 (PMN-PT) substrates. A standard symmetric ‘Butterfly’ shaped ΔM/M-Edc loops is obtained in 8 nm FePt/PMN-PT heterostrucuture via strain mediated magnetoelectric coupling. For the 3 nm FePt/PMN-PT heterostructure, the loop-like in-plane magnetization (M) -E curve shares a similar shape with the electric polarization of PMN-PT as a function of electric field. The value of MS shows a dramatic change of 30.9% with Edc changing from 0 to 8 kV/cm, this giant magnetoelectric effect in 3 nm FePt/PMN-PT heterostructure results from the remnant polarization induced charge on FePt/PMN-PT interface via the screening charge effect. The enhanced magnetoelectric coupling in thin magnetic/ferroelectric heterostructures opens a promising avenue for the design of ultralow power magnetoelectric devices and information storage devices.