Domains and domain walls in multiferroics

Multiferroics are gathering solid-state matter in which several types of orders are simultaneously allowed, as ferroelectricity, ferromagnetism (or antiferromagnetism), ferroelasticity, or ferrotoroidicity. Among all, the ferroelectric/ferromagnetic couple is the most intensively studied because of potential applications in novel low-power magnetoelectric devices. Switching of one order thanks to the other necessarily proceeds via the nucleation and growth of coupled domains. This review is an introduction to the basics of ferroelectric/ferromagnetic domain formation and to the recent microscopy techniques devoted to domains imaging, providing new insights into the archetypal multiferroic domain morphologies. Some relevant examples are also given to illustrate some of the unexpected properties of domain walls, as well as the way these domain walls can be manipulated altogether thanks to various types of magnetoelectric coupling.     

Nonvolatile control of transport and magnetic properties in magnetoelectric heterostructures by electric field

Nonvolatile manipulation of transport and magnetic properties by external electric field is significant for information storage. In this study, we investigate the electric field control of resistance and magnetization in a magnetoelectric heterostructure comprising an electronic phase-separated La_(0.325)Pr_(0.3)Ca_(0.375)MnO_3(LPCMO) thin film and a ferroelectric(011)-oriented 0.7Pb(Mg_(1/3)Nb_(2/3))O_3-0.3PbTiO_3(PMN-PT) substrate. In a room-temperature poled sample, the metal-toinsulator transition temperature of an LPCMO film increases and the resistance decreases with variation in the effect of the remnant strain. Meanwhile, the increase in the magnetization of the sample is observed as well. This effect would be beneficial for the development of novel storage devices with low power consumption.