Influence of elastically pinned magnetic domain walls on magnetization reversal in multiferroic heterostructures

TL;DR

This study explores how elastically pinned magnetic domain walls influence magnetization reversal in multiferroic heterostructures, revealing field-direction-dependent switching mechanisms and the role of domain wall energies.

Contribution

It demonstrates the control of magnetization reversal mechanisms via magnetic field orientation in elastically coupled multiferroic heterostructures, highlighting the impact of pinned domain walls.

Findings

Magnetic field direction determines the switching mechanism.

Switching fields scale with domain width and film thickness.

Pinned domain wall energies explain different reversal behaviors.

Abstract

In elastically coupled multiferroic heterostructures that exhibit full domain correlations between ferroelectric and ferromagnetic sub-systems, magnetic domain walls are firmly pinned on top of ferroelectric domain boundaries. In this work we investigate the influence of pinned magnetic domain walls on the magnetization reversal process in a Co40Fe40B20 wedge film that is coupled to a ferroelectric BaTiO3 substrate via interface strain transfer. We show that the magnetic field direction can be used to select between two distinct magnetization reversal mechanisms, namely (1) double switching events involving alternate stripe domains at a time or (2) synchronized switching of all domains. Furthermore, scaling of the switching fields with domain width and film thickness is also found to depend on field orientation. These results are explained by considering the dissimilar energies of the two types of pinned magnetic domain walls that are formed in the system.