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Journal ArticleDOI

Electrical control of antiferromagnetic domains in multiferroic BiFeO3 films at room temperature.

TLDR
This work demonstrates the first observation of electrical control of antiferromagnetic domain structure in a single-phase multiferroic material at room temperature with high resolution images, indicating a strong coupling between the two types of order.
Abstract
Multiferroic materials, which offer the possibility of manipulating the magnetic state by an electric field or vice versa, are of great current interest. In this work, we demonstrate the first observation of electrical control of antiferromagnetic domain structure in a single-phase multiferroic material at room temperature. High-resolution images of both antiferromagnetic and ferroelectric domain structures of (001)-oriented multiferroic BiFeO3 films revealed a clear domain correlation, indicating a strong coupling between the two types of order. The ferroelectric structure was measured using piezo force microscopy, whereas X-ray photoemission electron microscopy as well as its temperature dependence was used to detect the antiferromagnetic configuration. Antiferromagnetic domain switching induced by ferroelectric polarization switching was observed, in agreement with theoretical predictions.

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Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI

Physics and Applications of Bismuth Ferrite

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors summarize both the basic physics and unresolved aspects of BiFeO3 and device applications, which center on spintronics and memory devices that can be addressed both electrically and magnetically.
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Multiferroics: progress and prospects in thin films.

TL;DR: Novel device paradigms based on magnetoelectric coupling are discussed, the key scientific challenges in the field are outlined, and high-quality thin-film multiferroics are reviewed.
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The emergence of spin electronics in data storage

TL;DR: The authors are starting to see a new paradigm where magnetization dynamics and charge currents act on each other in nanostructured artificial materials, allowing faster, low-energy operations: spin electronics is on its way.
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Multiferroics: Towards a magnetoelectric memory

TL;DR: The room-temperature manipulation of magnetization by an electric field using the multiferroic BiFeO3 represents an essential step towards the magnetoelectric control of spintronics devices.
Journal ArticleDOI

Multiferroicity: the coupling between magnetic and polarization orders

TL;DR: In this article, the authors highlight the physical concepts of multiferroicity and the current challenges to integrate the magnetism and ferroelectricity into a single-phase system and summarize various strategies used to combine the two types of order.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI

Multiferroic and magnetoelectric materials

TL;DR: A ferroelectric crystal exhibits a stable and switchable electrical polarization that is manifested in the form of cooperative atomic displacements that arises through the quantum mechanical phenomenon of exchange.
Journal ArticleDOI

Epitaxial BiFeO3 multiferroic thin film heterostructures.

TL;DR: Enhanced polarization and related properties in heteroepitaxially constrained thin films of the ferroelectromagnet, BiFeO3, and combined functional responses in thin film form present an opportunity to create and implement thin film devices that actively couple the magnetic and ferroelectric order parameters.
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Revival of the Magnetoelectric Effect

Abstract: Recent research activities on the linear magnetoelectric (ME) effect?induction of magnetization by an electric field or of polarization by a magnetic field?are reviewed. Beginning with a brief summary of the history of the ME effect since its prediction in 1894, the paper focuses on the present revival of the effect. Two major sources for 'large' ME effects are identified. (i) In composite materials the ME effect is generated as a product property of a magnetostrictive and a piezoelectric compound. A linear ME polarization is induced by a weak ac magnetic field oscillating in the presence of a strong dc bias field. The ME effect is large if the ME coefficient coupling the magnetic and electric fields is large. Experiments on sintered granular composites and on laminated layers of the constituents as well as theories on the interaction between the constituents are described. In the vicinity of electromechanical resonances a ME voltage coefficient of up to 90?V?cm?1?Oe?1 is achieved, which exceeds the ME response of single-phase compounds by 3?5 orders of magnitude. Microwave devices, sensors, transducers and heterogeneous read/write devices are among the suggested technical implementations of the composite ME effect. (ii) In multiferroics the internal magnetic and/or electric fields are enhanced by the presence of multiple long-range ordering. The ME effect is strong enough to trigger magnetic or electrical phase transitions. ME effects in multiferroics are thus 'large' if the corresponding contribution to the free energy is large. Clamped ME switching of electrical and magnetic domains, ferroelectric reorientation induced by applied magnetic fields and induction of ferromagnetic ordering in applied electric fields were observed. Mechanisms favouring multiferroicity are summarized, and multiferroics in reduced dimensions are discussed. In addition to composites and multiferroics, novel and exotic manifestations of ME behaviour are investigated. This includes (i) optical second harmonic generation as a tool to study magnetic, electrical and ME properties in one setup and with access to domain structures; (ii) ME effects in colossal magnetoresistive manganites, superconductors and phosphates of the LiMPO4 type; (iii) the concept of the toroidal moment as manifestation of a ME dipole moment; (iv) pronounced ME effects in photonic crystals with a possibility of electromagnetic unidirectionality. The review concludes with a summary and an outlook to the future development of magnetoelectrics research.
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Why Are There so Few Magnetic Ferroelectrics

TL;DR: In this paper, the fundamental physics behind the scarcity of ferromagnetic ferroelectric coexistence was explored and the properties of known magnetically ordered ferro-electric materials were examined.
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The Renaissance of Magnetoelectric Multiferroics

TL;DR: Magnetoelectric multiferroics combine ferromagnetic magnetization and ferroelectricity in the same phase and have tremendous potential for applications, not only because they possess the properties of both parent phenomena, but also because coupling between ferromagnetism and electric polarization can lead to additional novel effects as discussed by the authors.
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