Electric-field control of magnetic order above room temperature

R.O. Cherifi (1) , V. Ivanovskaya (1) , L.C. Phillips (1) , A. Zobelli (2) , I.C. Infante (3) , E. Jacquet (1) , V. Garcia (1) , S. Fusil (1, 4) , P.R. Briddon (5) , N. Guiblin (3) , A. Mougin (2) , A.A. Unal (6) , F. Kronast (6) , S. Valencia (6) , B. Dkhil (3) , A. Barthelemy (1) , M. Bibes (1)

1 Laboratoire Albert Fert (ex-UMPhy Unité mixte de physique CNRS/Thales)
2 LPS - Laboratoire de Physique des Solides
3 SPMS - Laboratoire Structures, Propriétés et Modélisation des solides
4 DPM - Département de Physique et Modélisation
5 School of Electrical and electronic
6 HZB - Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbH = Helmholtz Centre Berlin for Materials and Energy = Centre Helmholtz de Berlin pour les matériaux et l'énergie

Controlling magnetism by means of electric fields is a key issue for the future development of low-power spintronics1. Progress has been made in the electrical control of magnetic anisotropy2, domain structure3,4, spin polarization5,6 or critical temperatures7,8. However, the ability to turn on and o robust ferromagnetism at room temperature and above has remained elusive. Here we use ferroelectricity in BaTiO3 crystals to tune the sharp metamagnetic transition temperature of epitaxially grown FeRh films and electrically drive a transition between antiferromagnetic and ferromagnetic order with only a few volts, just above room temperature. The detailed analysis of the data in the light of first-principles calculations indicate that the phenomenon is mediated by both strain and field e ects from the BaTiO3. Our results correspond to a magnetoelectric coupling larger than previous reports by at least one order of magnitude and open new perspectives for the use of ferroelectrics in magnetic storage and spintronics.

Domaines: Science des matériaux [cond-mat.mtrl-sci]

R.O. Cherifi, V. Ivanovskaya, L.C. Phillips, A. Zobelli, I.C. Infante, et al.. Electric-field control of magnetic order above room temperature. Nature Materials, 2014, pp.nmat3870. ⟨10.1038/NMAT3870⟩. ⟨hal-01053074⟩