Manipulating the magnetic anisotropy of cobalt doped titanium dioxide by carrier accumulation

TL;DR

This study uses first-principles calculations to show that carrier accumulation can control the magnetic anisotropy energy in Co-doped TiO₂, enabling electric-field manipulation of magnetization direction in spintronics.

Contribution

It demonstrates a novel way to manipulate magnetic anisotropy through carrier accumulation, offering a new approach for electrically controlling spin in spintronic materials.

Findings

Carrier accumulation shifts Fermi energy and alters MAE.

Carrier-dependent MAE originates from changes in band structure.

Electric-field control of magnetization direction is feasible.

Abstract

Based on first-principles calculations, we predict that the magnetic anisotropy energy (MAE) of Co-doped TiO$_2$ sensitively depends on carrier accumulation. This magnetoelectric phenomenon provides a promising route to directly manipulate the magnetization direction of diluted magnetic semiconductor by external electric-fields. We calculate the band structures and reveal the origin of carrier-dependent MAE in k-space. In fact, the carrier accumulation shifts the Fermi energy and regulates the competing contributions to MAE. The first-principles calculations provide a straightforward way to design spintronics materials with electrically controllable spin direction.