Non-volatile ferroelastic switching of the Verwey transition and resistivity of epitaxial Fe3O4/PMN-PT (011)

TL;DR

This study demonstrates non-volatile, reversible control of the Verwey transition and resistivity in epitaxial Fe3O4 films via electric field-induced ferroelastic switching of PMN-PT substrates, enabling potential device applications.

Contribution

It introduces a novel ferroelastic switching pathway to tune the Verwey transition and resistivity in Fe3O4 films in a stable, reversible, and non-volatile manner.

Findings

Ferroelastic switching modulates the Verwey transition.

Resistivity can be non-volatilely switched at room temperature.

The approach enables broad temperature range tuning of electronic states.

Abstract

A central goal of electronics based on correlated materials or 'Mottronics' is the ability to switch between distinct collective states with a control voltage. Small changes in structure and charge density near a transition can tip the balance between competing phases, leading to dramatic changes in electronic and magnetic properties. In this work, we demonstrate that an electric field induced two-step ferroelastic switching pathway in (011) oriented 0.71Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3-0.29PbTiO3 (PMN-PT) substrates can be used to tune the Verwey metal-insulator transition in epitaxial Fe3O4 films in a stable and reversible manner. We also observe robust non-volatile resistance switching in Fe3O4 up to room temperature, driven by ferroelastic strain. These results provides a framework for realizing non-volatile and reversible tuning of order parameters coupled to lattice-strain in epitaxial oxide heterostructures over a broad range of temperatures, with potential device applications.