Predicted Magnetoelectric Effect in Fe/BaTiO₃ Multilayers: Ferroelectric Control of Magnetism

Authors

Chun-Gang Duan, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Sitaram S. Jaswal, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Evgeny Y. Tsymbal, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

ORCID IDs

Tsymbal http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6728-5484

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

7-2006

Citation

Physical Review Letters (2006) 97: 047201

doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.97.047201

Comments

Copyright © 2006, American Physical Society. Used by permission

Abstract

An unexplored physical mechanism which produces a magnetoelectric effect in ferroelectricferromagnetic multilayers is studied based on first-principles calculations. Its origin is a change in bonding at the ferroelectric-ferromagnet interface that alters the interface magnetization when the electric polarization reverses. Using Fe/BaTiO₃ multilayers as a representative model, we show a sizable difference in magnetic moments of Fe and Ti atoms at the two interfaces dissimilar by the orientation of the local electric dipole moments. The predicted magnetoelectric effect opens a new direction to control magnetic properties of thin-film layered structures by electric fields.