Magnetic anisotropy modified by electric field in V/Fe/MgO(001)/Fe epitaxial magnetic tunnel junction

A. Rajanikanth (1) , Thomas Hauet (1) , François Montaigne (1) , Stéphane Mangin (1) , Stéphane Andrieu (1)

1 IJL - Institut Jean Lamour

Single-crystalline V/Fe(0.7 nm)/MgO(1.2nm)/Fe(20 nm) magnetic tunnel junctions are studied to quantify the influence of an electric field on the Fe/MgO interface magnetic anisotropy. The thinnest Fe soft layer has a perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA), whereas the thickest Fe layer acts as sensor for magnetic anisotropy changes. When electrons are added at the PMA Fe/MgO interface (negative voltage), no anisotropy changes are observed. For positive voltage, the anisotropy constant decreases with increasing bias voltage. A huge 1150 fJV(-1) m(-1) anisotropy variation with field is observed and the magnetization is found to turn from out-of-plane to in-plane of the sample with the applied voltage.

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

A. Rajanikanth, Thomas Hauet, François Montaigne, Stéphane Mangin, Stéphane Andrieu. Magnetic anisotropy modified by electric field in V/Fe/MgO(001)/Fe epitaxial magnetic tunnel junction. Applied Physics Letters, 2013, 103 (6), pp.062402. ⟨10.1063/1.4817268⟩. ⟨hal-01276619⟩