Surface Magnetoelectric Effect in Ferromagnetic Metal Films

Authors

Chun-Gang Duan, Key Laboratory of Polarized Materials and Devices, Ministry of Education, East China Normal University, Shanghai, ChinaFollow
Julian P. Velev, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Renat F. Sabirianov, University of Nebraska at OmahaFollow
Ziqiang Zhu, Key Laboratory of Polarized Materials and Devices, Ministry of Education, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China
Junhao Chu, Key Laboratory of Polarized Materials and Devices, Ministry of Education, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China
Sitaram S. Jaswal, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Evgeny Y. Tsymbal, University of Nebraska at LincolnFollow

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

9-2008

Comments

Published in Phys. Rev. Lett. 101, 137201 (2008); DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.101.137201; Copyright © 2008 The American Physical Society. Used by permission. http://link.aps.org/abstract/PRL/v101/e137201

Abstract

A surface magnetoelectric effect is revealed by density-functional calculations that are applied to ferromagnetic Fe(001), Ni(001), and Co(0001) films in the presence of an external electric field. The effect originates from spin-dependent screening of the electric field which leads to notable changes in the surface magnetization and the surface magnetocrystalline anisotropy. These results are of considerable interest in the area of electrically controlled magnetism and magnetoelectric phenomena.