Artificial multiferroic heterostructures for an electric control of magnetic properties

The control of magnetism by electric fields is an important goal for future low-power spintronics devices. This partly explains the intensified recent interest for magnetoelectric multiferroic materials and heterostructures. The lack of ferro- or ferrimagnetic–ferroelectric materials with large magnetoelectric coupling between the two orders has spurred intensive research on artificial multiferroics combining ferroelectric or piezoelectric materials and ferromagnets. In this paper we review synthetically the potential of thin-film-based heterostructures in which a magnetic film is in contact with a ferroelectric or piezoelectric one to obtain an electric control of magnetic properties. This electric control either results from a strain-induced magnetoelectric coupling, a charge-driven one, or from the modulation of an interfacial exchange-bias interaction.     

多铁异质结构中逆磁电耦合效应的研究进展

电场调控磁性能够有效降低功耗,在未来低功耗多功能器件等方面具有巨大的潜在应用前景.铁磁/铁电多铁异质结构是实现电场调控磁性的有效途径,其中室温、磁电耦合效应大的应变媒介磁电耦合是最为活跃的研究领域之一.本文简要介绍在以Pb(Mg_(1/3)Nb_(2/3))_(0.7)Ti_(0.3)O_3为铁电材料的多铁异质结构中通过应变媒介磁电耦合效应对磁性、磁化翻转及磁性隧道结调控的研究进展.首先讨论了多铁异质结构中电场对磁性的调控;之后介绍了电场调控磁化翻转的研究进展及理论上实现的途径;然后简述了电场对磁性隧道结调控的相关结果;最后在此基础上,对多铁异质结构中电场调控磁性及磁性器件进行了总结和展望.     

激发态电荷转移有机体的多铁性研究

随着人们对多铁性的深入了解,越来越多不同类型的有机多铁材料被合成出来.激发态电荷转移有机体的电荷转移网络是由一个提供电子的分子(给体donor,D~+)和一个接受电子的分子(受体acceptor,A~-)有序排列后构成的.D~+A~-长程有序排列,其激发态(激子)具有较长寿命和±1/2自旋,这是产生室温铁电性和铁磁性的根本原因.激发态容易受外场刺激,因此光照、磁场、电场、应力等能够很好地调控这类材料的铁电极化、磁矩和相应的磁电耦合系数.激发态电荷转移有机体不仅大大丰富了室温多铁材料体系,而且可以为开发新型多功能电子器件提供材料基础和技术储备.     

多阶有序钙钛矿多铁性材料的高压制备与物性

钙钛矿是研究磁电多铁性最重要的材料体系之一.由于高的结构对称性,在以往的立方钙钛矿晶格中尚未发现多铁现象.另外,现有的单相多铁性材料很难兼容大电极化和强磁电耦合,严重制约多铁性材料的潜在应用.本文简单综述了利用高压高温条件制备的两个多阶有序钙钛矿氧化物的磁电多铁性质.在具有立方晶格的多阶钙钛矿LaMn_3Cr_4O_(12)中,观察到自旋诱导的铁电极化,表明该材料是第一个被发现的具有多铁性的立方钙钛矿体系.在另一个多阶有序钙钛矿BiMn_3Cr_4O_(12)中,随温度降低该材料依次经历了I类多铁相和II类多铁相.正因为这两类不同多铁相的同时出现,BiMn_3Cr_4O_(12)同时展示了大的电极化强度和强的磁电耦合效应,并且通过不同的电场调控可实现四重铁电极化态,为开发多功能自旋电子学器件与多态存储提供了先进的材料基础.     

Dynamical anisotropic magnetoelectric effects at ferroelectric/ferromagnetic insulator interfaces

The interfacial magnetoelectric interaction originating from multi-orbital hopping processes with ferroelectricassociated vector potential is theoretically investigated for complex-oxide composite structures.Large mismatch in the electrical permittivity of the ferroelectric and ferromagnetic materials gives rise to giant anisotropic magnetoelectric effects at their interface.Our study reveals a strong linear dynamic magnetoelectric coupling which genuinely results in electric control of magnetic susceptibility.The constitutive conditions for negative refractive index of multiferroic composites are determined by the analysis of light propagation.     

Mn3TeO6 – a new multiferroic material with two magnetic substructures

From magnetic susceptibility, dielectric permittivity, electric polarization and specific heat measurements we discover spin‐induced ferroelectricity and magnetoelectric coupling in Mn₃TeO₆ and observe two successive magnetic transitions at low temperatures. A non‐ferroelectric intermediate magnetic state occurs below 23 K and a multiferroic ground state emerges below 21 K. Moreover, Mn₃TeO₆ is a candidate for a multiferroic material where two types of incommensurate spin structures, cycloidal and helical, coexist. Theoretically, both spin substructures may contribute to the macro electric polarization via different mechanisms. This could open new ways of manipulating the ferroelectric polarization in a multiferroic material. (© 2015 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH &Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Order parameters and phase diagram of multiferroic RMn2O5

The generic magnetic phase diagram of multiferroic RMn2O5 (with R=Y, Ho, Tb, Er, Tm), which allows different sequences of ordered magnetic structures for different R's and different control parameters, is described using order parameters which explicitly incorporate the magnetic symmetry. A phenomenological magnetoelectric coupling is used to explain why some of these magnetic phases are also ferroelectric. Several new experiments, which can test this theory, are proposed.     

单相ABO3型多铁材料的磁电耦合及磁电性质研究

实验发现多铁性钙钛矿物质YMnO₃和BiMnO₃在接近磁有序相变温度时,其介电常数和正切损失会出现异常,这些现象说明在物质的磁性和介电性质之间存在耦合.通过对系统磁性和铁电性之间可能磁电耦合方式的分析,考虑在系统哈密顿量中加入与自旋关联和极化相关的耦合项,对铁电子系统应用软模理论,对磁性运用基于海森伯模型的量子平均场近似,研究了外磁场诱导的极化、介电的变化和外电场诱导的磁化的变化等,并将以上结果与实验进行了比较和分析,较为合理地解释了一些多铁钙钛矿物质中的磁电现 关键词： 多铁 磁电耦合 铁电 铁磁     

Magnetic-field-induced electric polarization in multiferroic nanostructures

Magnetic-field-induced electric polarization in nanostructured multiferroic composite films was studied by using the Green's function approach. The calculations showed that large magnetic-field-induced polarization could be produced in multiferroic nanostructures due to enhanced elastic coupling interaction. Especially, the 1-3 type films with ferromagnetic nanopillars embedded in a ferroelectric matrix exhibited large magnetic-field-induced polarization responses, while the 2-2 type films with ferroelectric and ferromagnetic nanolaminates showed much weaker magnetoelectric coupling and lower magnetic induced polarization due to large in-plane constraint effect, which was in agreement with the recent observations.     

Multiferroic materials and magnetoelectric physics: symmetry,entanglement, excitation,and topology

Multiferroics are those materials with more than one ferroic order, and magnetoelectricity refers to the mutual coupling between magnetism (spins and/or magnetic field) and electricity (electric dipoles and/or electric field). In spite of the long research history in the whole twentieth century, the discipline of multiferroicity has never been so highly active as that in the first decade of the twenty-first century, and it has become one of the hottest disciplines of condensed matter physics and materials science. A series of milestones and steady progress in the past decade have enabled our understanding of multiferroic physics substantially comprehensive and profound, which is further pushing forward the research frontier of this exciting area. The availability of more multiferroic materials and improved magnetoelectric performance are approaching to make the applications within reach. While seminal review articles covering the major progress before 2010 are available, an updated review addressing the new achievements since that time becomes imperative. In this review, following a concise outline of the basic knowledge of multiferroicity and magnetoelectricity, we summarize the important research activities on multiferroics, especially magnetoelectricity and related physics in the last six years. We consider not only single-phase multiferroics but also multiferroic heterostructures. We address the physical mechanisms regarding magnetoelectric coupling so that the backbone of this divergent discipline can be highlighted. A series of issues on lattice symmetry, magnetic ordering, ferroelectricity generation, electromagnon excitations, multiferroic domain structure and domain wall dynamics, and interfacial coupling in multiferroic heterostructures, will be revisited in an updated framework of physics. In addition, several emergent phenomena and related physics, including magnetic skyrmions and generic topological structures associated with magnetoelectricity will be discussed. The review is ended with a set of prospectives and forward-looking conclusions, which may inevitably reflect the authors' biased opinions but are certainly critical.     

Dynamic response of converse magnetoelectric effect in a PMN-PT-based multiferroic heterostructure

A multiferroic heterostructure, consisting of a 25 μm thick Metglas® ribbon affixed to a lead magnesium niobate–lead titanate (PMN-PT) crystal, was systemically studied to investigate the time response of converse magnetoelectric coupling under the application of electric fields at low frequencies (0.05<f<10 Hz). This multiferroic heterostructure exhibits a considerably strong converse magnetoelectric effect, CME=?80%, where CME=[M(E)?M(0)]/M(0), and a converse ME coupling constant, A=22.5 Oe-cm/kV, at frequencies below 1 Hz and near saturation electric polarization. A switching time (t _s), representing the response time of the CME coupling, is measured to be 0.6 seconds for this heterostructure under the application of instantaneous electric fields. The switching time results in significant influences on the magnetoelectric effect especially at frequencies higher than 2 Hz. The dynamic response of CME coupling is predominantly determined by ferroelectric relaxation within the PMN-PT crystal, as opposed to the magnetic relaxation of the Metglas® ribbon. A model was used to describe the dynamic behavior of CME coupling in disordered systems such as PMN-PT.     

Terfenol-D/Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 Disk-Ring Multiferroic Heterostructures Coupled Through Normal Stresses

Disk-ring multiferroic heterostructures composed of Terfenol-D and Pb(Zr,Ti)O₃ (PZT) were prepared and characterized, for which the ferromagnetic and ferroelectric phases were coupled through normal stresses instead of the shear stresses that acted in most of the previous multiferroic heterostructures. High low-frequency magnetoelectric coefficients of 0.10–0.75 V cm⁻¹ Oe⁻¹ were attained for the disk-ring heterostructures, which indicated the strong magnetoelectric coupling. Moreover, a symmetrical resonant peak was observed for dE ₃/dH ₃ in the frequency range of 1–200 kHz, while another weak peak with asymmetrical shape also existed at a lower frequency for dE ₃/dH ₁, which was due to the combination of two vibration modes.     

Ferroelectric control of the magnetocrystalline anisotropy of the Fe/BaTiO(3)(001) interface

Density-functional calculations are employed to investigate the effect of ferroelectric polarization of BaTiO(3) on the magnetocrystalline anisotropy of the Fe /BaTiO(3)(001) interface. It is found that the interface magnetocrystalline anisotropy energy changes from 1.33 to 1.02 erg cm (-2) when the ferroelectric polarization is reversed. This strong magnetoelectric coupling is explained in terms of the changing population of the Fe 3d orbitals at the Fe/BaTiO(3) interface driven by polarization reversal. Our results indicate that the electronically assisted magnetoelectric effects at the ferromagnetic/ferroelectric interfaces may be a viable alternative to the strain mediated coupling in related heterostructures and the electric field-induced effects on the interface magnetic anisotropy in ferromagnet/dielectric structures.     

(Sr,Mn)TiO3: a magnetoelectric multiglass

By close analogy with multiferroic materials with coexisting long-range electric and magnetic orders a "multiglass" scenario of two different glassy states is observed in Sr(0.98)Mn(0.02)TiO(3) ceramics. Sr-site substituted Mn2+ ions are at the origin of both a polar and a spin glass with glass temperatures T(g) approximately equal to 38 K and < or =34 K, respectively. The structural freezing triggers that of the spins, and both glassy systems show individual memory effects. Thanks to strong spin-phonon interaction within the incipient ferroelectric host crystal SrTiO3, large higher order magnetoelectric coupling occurs between both glass systems.     

Critical thickness for ferroelectricity and magnetoelectric effect in multiferroic tunnel junction with symmetrical and asymmetrical electrodes

The critical thickness for ferroelectricity and magnetoelectric effects have been investigated for the multiferroic tunnel junction with symmetric and asymmetric metallic electrodes based on density functional theory. The ferroelectric polarization of a barrier is still retained down to 2 unit cells scale for the asymmetric multiferroic tunnel junction. The greater cause, leading to the reduction, or even complete elimination for the critical thickness, is the difference in the work function for the two asymmetrical electrodes. In addition, the effect of magnetoelectric coupling is obvious. The asymmetric multiferroic tunnel junction provides the possibility for the miniaturising and multifunctional spin electronic devices.     

微纳尺度多铁异质结中电驱动磁反转

近年来,多铁异质结中电控磁性研究引起了广泛关注,已成为多铁领域的热点.现代自旋电子学器件(如磁内存)通常利用电流产生的磁场或自旋转移扭矩效应驱动磁反转来实现数据擦写,但这带来高额能耗和热量,成为亟待解决的关键难题.而利用多铁异质结实施电场驱动磁反转则有望大幅降低能耗,从而实现高速、低能耗、高稳定性新型高密度磁存储、逻辑及其他自旋电子学器件.在当前器件发展的微型化趋势下,探索可集成化的微纳尺度电场驱动磁反转方案显得越发重要.本文针对发展新型磁电器件所面临的微型化关键问题,回顾了微纳尺度电场驱动磁反转研究的新进展,主要关注小尺度多铁异质结中电控磁的新特点、新方法及相关物理机理的实验和理论成果,讨论了进入纳米尺度将面临的挑战,并对未来研究工作提出一些展望.     

顺磁性La2/3Sr1/3MnO3层对Bi0.8Ba0.2FeO3薄膜多铁性能的影响

界面效应在提升异质结构材料的多铁性能方面有着重要的作用. 本文采用脉冲激光沉积技术在SrTiO₃(STO)基片上制备了Bi_0.8Ba_0.2FeO₃(BBFO)/La_2/3Sr_1/3MnO₃(LSMO)异质结. X-射线衍射图谱表明异质结呈现单相外延生长, 利用高分辨透射电镜进一步证实了BBFO为四方相结构. X-射线光电子能谱证实异质结中只存在Fe³⁺ 离子, 没有产生价态的变化, 揭示了异质结铁电和铁磁性的增强与BBFO/LSMO的界面有关. 同时, 测试了磁电阻(MR)和磁介电(MD), 当磁场强度为0.8 T, 温度为70 K时, MR约为-42.2%, MD约为21.2%. 并且发现在180 K时出现磁相的转变. 实验结果揭示出异质界面效应在提升材料的多铁性和磁电耦合效应方面具有超常的优点, 是加快多铁材料实际应用的有效途径.     

Nanoscale electrostatic manipulation of magnetic flux quanta in ferroelectric/superconductor BiFeO3/YBa2Cu3O(7-δ) heterostructures

Using heterostructures that combine a large-polarization ferroelectric (BiFeO3) and a high-temperature superconductor (YBa2Cu3O(7-δ)), we demonstrate the modulation of the superconducting condensate at the nanoscale via ferroelectric field effects. Through this mechanism, a nanoscale pattern of normal regions that mimics the ferroelectric domain structure can be created in the superconductor. This yields an energy landscape for magnetic flux quanta and, in turn, couples the local ferroelectric polarization to the local magnetic induction. We show that this form of magnetoelectric coupling, together with the possibility to reversibly design the ferroelectric domain structure, allows the electrostatic manipulation of magnetic flux quanta.     

Magnetoelectric coupling effect of polarization regulation in BiFeO_3/LaTiO_3 heterostructures

An effective regulation of the magnetism and interface of ferromagnetic materials is not only of great scientific significance, but also has an urgent need in modern industry. In this work, by using the first-principles calculations, we demonstrate an effective approach to achieve non-volatile electrical control of ferromagnets, which proves this idea in multiferroic heterostructures of ferromagnetic La TiO_3 and ferroelectric Bi FeO_3. The results show that the magnetic properties and two-dimensional electron gas concentrations of La TiO_3 films can be controlled by changing the polarization directions of Bi FeO_3. The destroyed symmetry being introduced by ferroelectric polarization of the system leads to the transfer and reconstruction of the Ti-3 d electrons, which is the fundamental reason for the changing of magnetic properties.This multiferroic heterostructures will pave the way for non-volatile electrical control of ferromagnets and have potential applications.     

Study of magnetoelectric coupling effect in the hexagonal ferroelectromagnet

Soft-mode theory based on Diffour model for ferroelectric subsystem, and mean-field theory as well as Heisenberg model for antiferromagnetic subsystem are utilized to investigate the magnetoelectric coupling effect in a hexagonal ferroelectromagnet, in which the ferroelectric and antiferromagnetic orders spontaneously coexist below a certain temperature. An anomaly of polarization at the magnetic transition temperature is ascribed to the effect of magnetoelectric coupling. The magnetic excitation has also been studied by spin-wave theory over the three-sublattice model. It is demonstrated that role of magnetoelectric coupling effect is not only related with the strength of magnetoelectric coupling but also special spin lattice structure. Our results show the magnetic specific heat induced by magnetic excitation experiences a suppression by the magnetoelectric coupling.