Electric-field control of magnetic domain wall motion and local magnetization reversal

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates electric-field control of magnetic domain walls and local magnetization in multiferroic heterostructures, enabling low-power magnetic manipulation for spintronic applications.

Contribution

It introduces a novel method of controlling magnetic properties via strain transfer from ferroelectric domains, achieving electric control over magnetic microstructures.

Findings

Electric control of magnetic domain walls achieved

Strong inter-ferroic domain wall pinning observed

Giant magnetoelectric coupling effects demonstrated

Abstract

Spintronic devices currently rely on magnetic switching or controlled motion of domain walls by an external magnetic field or spin-polarized current. Achieving the same degree of magnetic controllability using an electric field has potential advantages including enhanced functionality and low power consumption. Here, we report on an approach to electrically control local magnetic properties, including the writing and erasure of regular ferromagnetic domain patterns and the motion of magnetic domain walls, in multiferroic CoFe-BaTiO3 heterostructures. Our method is based on recurrent strain transfer from ferroelastic domains in ferroelectric media to continuous magnetostrictive films with negligible magnetocrystalline anisotropy. Optical polarization microscopy of both ferromagnetic and ferroelectric domain structures reveals that domain correlations and strong inter-ferroic domain wall pinning persist in an applied electric field. This leads to an unprecedented electric controllability over the ferromagnetic microstructure, an accomplishment that produces giant magnetoelectric coupling effects and opens the way to multiferroic spintronic devices.