Electric-Field Control of Magnetic Order: From FeRh to Topological Antiferromagnetic Spintronics

TL;DR

This paper reviews recent advances in electric-field control of magnetic order, highlighting its potential for low-energy spintronic devices, with a focus on FeRh alloys and topological antiferromagnetic materials.

Contribution

It summarizes recent experimental results on electric-field-induced magnetic phase transitions and extends the approach to topological antiferromagnetic spintronics.

Findings

Giant magnetization and resistivity modulation in FeRh via electric fields

Electric-field switching of antiferromagnetic order parameter

Potential manipulation of topological phenomena with electric fields

Abstract

Using an electric field instead of an electric current (or a magnetic field) to tailor the electronic properties of magnetic materials is promising for realizing ultralow energy-consuming memory devices because of the suppression of Joule heating, especially when the devices are scaled to the nanoscale. In the review, we summarize recent results on the giant magnetization and resistivity modulation in a metamagnetic intermetallic alloy - FeRh, which is achieved by electric-field-controlled magnetic phase transitions in multiferroic heterostructures. Furthermore, the approach is extended to topological antiferromagnetic spintronics, which is currently receiving attention in the magnetic society, and the antiferromagnetic order parameter has been able to switch back and forth by a small electric field. In the end, we envision the possibility of manipulating exotic physical phenomena in the emerging topological antiferromagnetic spintronics field via the electric-field approach.