Strain assisted magnetization switching in ordered nanomagnets of CoFe2O4/SrRuO3/PMNPT hetrostructures

TL;DR

This study demonstrates electric field-controlled magnetization switching in CoFe2O4 nanodots on a piezoelectric substrate, revealing strain-induced magneto-electric effects and potential for non-volatile memory applications.

Contribution

It introduces a novel nanostructure with multilevel magneto-electric coupling and demonstrates non-volatile, voltage-controlled magnetization switching in ordered nanodots.

Findings

Electric field induces magnetization reversal in CFO nanodots.

Strain transfer from PMN-PT causes cation redistribution in CFO.

Stable multilevel magneto-electric states enable non-volatile memory.

Abstract

We have explored the electric field controlled magnetization in the nanodot CoFe2O4/SrRuO3/PMN-PT heterostructures. Ordered ferromagnetic CFO nanodots (~300 nm lateral dimension) are developed on the PMN-PT substrate (ferroelectric as well as piezoelectric) using a nanostencil-mask pattering method during pulsed laser deposition. The nanostructures reveal electric field induced magnetization reversal in the single domain CFO nanodots through transfer of piezostrains from the piezoelectric PMN-PT substrate to the CFO. Further, electric field modulated spin structure of CFO nanomagnets is analysed by using X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD). The XMCD analysis reveals cations (Fe3+/Co2+) redistribution on the octahedral and tetrahedral site in the electric field poled CoFe2O4 nanodots, establishing the strain induced magneto-electric coupling effects. The CoFe2O4/SrRuO3/PMN-PT nanodots structure demonstrate multilevel switching of ME coupling coefficient ({\alpha}) by applying selective positive and negative electric fields in a non-volatile manner. The retention of two stable states of {\alpha} is illustrated for ~106 seconds, which can be employed to store the digital data in non-volatile memory devices. Thus the voltage controlled magnetization in the nanodot structures leads a path towards the invention of energy efficient high-density memory devices.