Electrical Control of Magnetization in Charge-ordered Multiferroic LuFe2O4

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that the magnetization of LuFe2O4, a charge-ordered multiferroic, can be electrically controlled via voltage pulses, revealing an intrinsic magnetoelectric coupling and enabling electrical switching of magnetization.

Contribution

It introduces a novel method for electrical control of magnetization in LuFe2O4 through intrinsic magnetoelectric coupling, excluding thermal effects.

Findings

Magnetization can be electrically switched up or down.

Electrical control is due to intrinsic magnetoelectric coupling.

Thermal heating effects are excluded.

Abstract

LuFe2O4 exhibits multiferroicity due to charge order on a frustrated triangular lattice. We find that the magnetization of LuFe2O4 in the multiferroic state can be electrically controlled by applying voltage pulses. Depending on with or without magnetic fields, the magnetization can be electrically switched up or down. We have excluded thermal heating effect and attributed this electrical control of magnetization to an intrinsic magnetoelectric coupling in response to the electrical breakdown of charge ordering. Our findings open up a new route toward electrical control of magnetization.